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From what I understand, Gilead and many other companies do provide some meds at cost to countries that don't have a system to pay for high priced drugs, especia

From what I understand, Gilead and many other companies do provide some meds at cost to countries that don't have a system to pay for high priced drugs, especially if they are important drugs for large groups of sick patients Part of this is a corporate social responsibility thing, but part of it is because many of these drugs are purchased and distributed by entities that sometimes cut and dilute expensive drugs and resell them. This hurts patients and tarnishes the brand of the company. Selling their products at cost removes this incentive and allows patients to access the medicines in their unadulterated form So the pharma companies incentives aren't entirely altruistic but it helps patients in the end

erkkie 9y ago
This and just the economics of it. It makes sense to sell at what price the market can handle, as long as it's above direct production cost (which it is). It's basically cheap marketing that happens to align with patient interests. edit: A lot of it is also politics with the host country. India for example has said it will produce cheap generics of drugs if it wants to, ignoring patents: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2013/04/08/indias-solution-to-drug-costs-ignore-patents-and-control-prices-except-for-home-grown-drugs/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2013/04/08/indias...