4 ms·

I am astonished that a couple of the biggest insurance companies in the US haven't banded together to form a drug manufacturing co-op. Find stuff that's off-pa

by x0x0 9y ago

I am astonished that a couple of the biggest insurance companies in the US haven't banded together to form a drug manufacturing co-op. Find stuff that's off-patent and build generics for things like epi-pens. The best bit (to my thinking) is after doing this to just a few drugs, the insurance companies would have a very big negotiating stick to go after other companies pricing off-patent drugs way over cost. If I knew a thing about pharma manufacturing I'd be spending my time trying to do this.

alexasmyths 9y ago
"Find stuff that's off-patent and build generics" There are a lot of companies that do that.
- x0x0 9y ago
  But yet things like Epi-Pen price increases occur, so it seems like there's room for a lot more.
  - alexasmyths 9y ago
    You should consider the fact that EpiPen is 'off patent' and that it is priced at some high number by a generic company and that there apparently are no others. The 'market is speaking'. If it were in way lucrative, someone would be doing it. I suggest that it's just a very expensive thing to develop and make, and there isn't a huge demand - otherwise, someone probably would. Now, $600 seems just crazy to me, and like you, my instinct might be 'there's room for someone' - but in reality, it's never that easy. My father worked in Pharma, and once sold a small empty building on behalf of a company for huge $$$ to a Chinese firm - only because it was 'approved' by the Canadian government for making drugs of a certain quality, and that this approval would have been very expensive to obtain. This is just at the top of the list of how many regulatory issues there are in making drugs - and why they are so expensive. I mean it does seem a little crazy that there are $600 EpiPen's but no others - when anyone can make them, but that's where we are.
virtuabhi 9y ago
> Find stuff that's off-patent and build generics Indian pharma industry is mostly doing these. We export a lot of generics to other continents as well.
- x0x0 9y ago
  Indian pharma is not just manufacturing generics; the government also uses compulsory licensing to ignore patents.
  - virtuabhi 9y ago
    Those constitute only a minsicule amount total manufacturing. It is used only for few serious diseases, e.g. leukemia.
tbihl 9y ago
I know it's just about become a meme to share these, but there's a great Econtalk from earlier this year that explains the drug patent system. If you've never had an in-depth, you'll learn a great deal. http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2017/06/robin_feldman_o.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2017/06/robin_feldman_o.htm...
WalterSear 9y ago
The insurance companies aren't really paying these prices. I wouldn't be surprised if that $2,200/month out of pocket price got knocked down to for 'bulk purchase' ending up with the insurance companies making more than they did before the price hike, and with more leverage over the customers due to the 'costs' involved.

by x0x0 9y ago

alexasmyths 9y ago

"Find stuff that's off-patent and build generics" There are a lot of companies that do that.

x0x0 9y ago
But yet things like Epi-Pen price increases occur, so it seems like there's room for a lot more.
- alexasmyths 9y ago
  You should consider the fact that EpiPen is 'off patent' and that it is priced at some high number by a generic company and that there apparently are no others. The 'market is speaking'. If it were in way lucrative, someone would be doing it. I suggest that it's just a very expensive thing to develop and make, and there isn't a huge demand - otherwise, someone probably would. Now, $600 seems just crazy to me, and like you, my instinct might be 'there's room for someone' - but in reality, it's never that easy. My father worked in Pharma, and once sold a small empty building on behalf of a company for huge $$$ to a Chinese firm - only because it was 'approved' by the Canadian government for making drugs of a certain quality, and that this approval would have been very expensive to obtain. This is just at the top of the list of how many regulatory issues there are in making drugs - and why they are so expensive. I mean it does seem a little crazy that there are $600 EpiPen's but no others - when anyone can make them, but that's where we are.

virtuabhi 9y ago

> Find stuff that's off-patent and build generics Indian pharma industry is mostly doing these. We export a lot of generics to other continents as well.

x0x0 9y ago
Indian pharma is not just manufacturing generics; the government also uses compulsory licensing to ignore patents.
- virtuabhi 9y ago
  Those constitute only a minsicule amount total manufacturing. It is used only for few serious diseases, e.g. leukemia.

tbihl 9y ago

I know it's just about become a meme to share these, but there's a great Econtalk from earlier this year that explains the drug patent system. If you've never had an in-depth, you'll learn a great deal. http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2017/06/robin_feldman_o.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2017/06/robin_feldman_o.htm...

WalterSear 9y ago

The insurance companies aren't really paying these prices. I wouldn't be surprised if that $2,200/month out of pocket price got knocked down to for 'bulk purchase' ending up with the insurance companies making more than they did before the price hike, and with more leverage over the customers due to the 'costs' involved.