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Re: Marathon Pharmaceuticals to charge $89,000 for muscular dystrophy drug after 70-fold increase

By: monkeytrots in POPE IV | Recommend this post (0)
Mon, 13 Feb 17 6:44 AM | 36 view(s)
Boardmark this board | POPES NEW and Improved Real Board 		Msg. 20549 of 47202
(This msg. is a reply to 20548 by Zimbler0)
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>> Zim: I don't think the drug makers need to 'justify'
their prices . . . I think there ought to be generics
in direct competition with them.

Zim, it would seem, from your examples, and the test those high school students ran on the 'cost of the ingredients' and 'simplicity' of manufacture, that there would be astronomical profit potential in making ALL drugs that are candidates for generic equivalents.

Thought experiment: Given the above hypothesis, Why aren't generics of very low cost available for all such candidates ?

Possible answers:
1. Big Pharma have such a lock, and monopoly on the entire drug system that small entrepreneurs are completely locked out.

2. There are other manufacturing, distribution, advertising costs, other than that of raw ingredients, which remove any reasonable profit from the picture.

3. US government regulations are so overbearing that they drive costs up astronomically.

4. US court system makes the liability of a single $50 million to $100 million dollar lawsuit so likely, that costs are driven up astronomically.

5. US insurance industry, in light of a litigious society, charge liability coverage prices that drive the costs up astronomically.

6. Combination of all of the above, or other factors, than just 'greedy drug manufacturers' account for the lack of 'cheap generic equivalent' drugs.

The high school experiment is interesting ... but very limited in scope for the real world.

Bottom line, Zim - Do you really believe the capitalist system is so broken and corrupted that if good profits could be made, somebody wouldn't be doing it ?

Or is it that WE are pounding on the wrong deviants (ie. the drug companies) when WE demand lower prices ?

It could be that US is at fault - and no amount of legislating 'lower prices' is going to fix the problem.

It could be that UnConstitutional Bureaucracy and SOCIETAL NORMS (ie. litigation unlimited and the 'something for nothing' free lunch anarchy mentality) have to be changed.

When the risks are too high, the rewards are not worth it.

Could it be RISKS that are the problem, and not COSTS ?

Just sayin ...




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The above is a reply to the following message:
Re: Marathon Pharmaceuticals to charge $89,000 for muscular dystrophy drug after 70-fold increase
By: Zimbler0 in POPE IV
Mon, 13 Feb 17 5:51 AM 		Msg. 20548 of 47202

Zim>> So, why aren't there generic drug makers for
these outrageously priced drugs?

Professor MonkeyTrots> Was that a rhetorical question, sir ?

Zim: Yes, and No.
I seem to remember reading an article in my newspaper
about some college kids taking an over priced drug,
and figuring out that they could make the stuff for
$2 a pill.

I stand corrected, it was Australian High School Kids.

>>
Students Make Martin Shkreli's Drug for $2 a Pill

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=200093

Dec. 1, 2016 -- A team of Australian high school students recreated the drug Daraprim for just $2 a pill in order to prove how cheap it is to make.

Last fall, U.S. biotech executive Martin Shkreli sparked outrage when he boosted the price of the drug by more than 4,000 percent, to $750 a pill. The drug is used to treat toxoplasmosis, which can be a life-threatening for pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV or AIDS, the Washington Post reported.

In Australia, 50 tablets of the drug can be bought for $13.

The 11th grade students spent about $15 on the ingredients required to produce 3.7 grams of Daraprim, about $100,000 worth of the drug in the U.S. market, according to Alice Williamson, a postdoctoral teaching fellow at the University of Sydney. She teamed up with the high school students and their science teachers.

There are no plans to sell the drug. Williams said the objective of the project was to send a message to drug companies -- particularly those in the U.S. -- that high drug prices are not always justified, the Post reported.

>>>

Zim: I don't think the drug makers need to 'jsutify'
their prices . . . I think there ought to be generics
in direct competition with them.

Zim.

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