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Cost of developing new drugs may be lower than industry claims: trial

(www.theguardian.com)
275 points swores | 2 comments | 25 Apr 24 12:25 UTC | HN request time: 0.588s | source
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MisterDizzy ◴[26 Apr 24 19:45 UTC] No.40173334[source]▶
Drug companies are unambiguously out of control. Some of these new molecules don't even need to be invented, they're just legally distinct repackaging of something they can't gouge on anymore. These companies could, if they had an incentive to do so, research effective off-label uses of existing drugs, say. But there's no money in that. There is a ton of money in making legally distinct "new" drugs that do the same thing as newly-generic drugs. It's unacceptable what they get away with.

Covid ought to have been the final straw that brought all sides together to do something about drug companies.

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1. RcouF1uZ4gsC ◴[26 Apr 24 20:35 UTC] No.40173958[source]▶
> Covid ought to have been the final straw that brought all sides together to do something about drug companies.

If anything, Covid demonstrated the value of drug companies. What was the economic cost of Covid, just from the shutdowns, not including the deaths and disability? I am sure it ran into the trillions.

So the drug companies made $100 billion dollars while producing an economic surplus of trillions? Sounds like a great deal to me.

I want developing new drugs to be insanely profitable. I want the smartest people to go into finding new cures for diseases instead of into thinking about how to drive "engagement" to maximize ad revenue, or playing financial games on Wall Street.

What were the revenues of Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft during Covid?

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2. MisterDizzy ◴[28 Apr 24 02:22 UTC] No.40185473[source]▶
I can only speak for myself. The real cost was human. Someone in my family died of despair-related causes, due to restrictions and lockdowns. Nobody in my family died of Covid. I had a temporary vaccine injury that has psychologically scarred my children. The human cost was severe. We should categorically never defend the mass-empowerment of the fearful.