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0 pointsanovikov7y ago0 comments

But wait, these drugs won't even exist if they didn't charge as much. They are needed by very few people (so if the price was $1000 they won't boost the number of patients so much, as the diseases are very rare), and drug research and regulatory process of approval is very expensive.

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geofft7y ago· 2 in thread

I'm not convinced drug research is expensive. I've met grad students. I've seen how much they do and how much they get paid.

That leaves the regulatory process, and if the problem is government intervention in the free market with overtones of regulatory capture (drug regulation being too excessive), the solution is certainly not more government intervention in the free market with overtones of regulatory capture (patents).

aaronbrethorst7y ago

That leaves the regulatory process

Well, that and rampant price gouging.

the solution is certainly not more government intervention in the free market

You should really listen to the podcast I linked to above.

geofft7y ago

Not sure I understand - are you agreeing or disagreeing with me? The podcast describes how a well-intended government intervention in the free market and how it led to rampant price gouging.

I would be more than thrilled if we got rid of the free market entirely. But that seems unrealistic, and if we're going to have it, the government needs to be very much on guard against saying "We can fix these market inefficiencies by letting these people make more profit." I maintain that if the government had instead caused pharmaceutical companies to make less profit from their regular drugs, orphan drugs wouldn't have looked so unappealing in comparison.

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drieddust7y ago

> But wait, these drugs won't even exist if they didn't charge as much.

Why they should not charge fairly? How much is as much?

On the issue of innovation, profit seekers does not have enough courage to do this. Board of big companies live quarter to quarter because their compensation is directy linked to stock value. It doesn't matter how much money they already have. Here is quote from the ted talk[1] linked below.

> In the drug industry, for example, 75% of the “radically innovative drugs” in the United States are researched in nationally funded laboratories. Whereas drug companies focus their efforts on “me-too” drugs — varieties of proven, profitable drugs — governments will take on potentially game-changing “new molecular priorities,” despite the risks involved.

[1] https://blog.ted.com/government-investor-risk-taker-innovato...

Edit: Point about charging.

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