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It's interesting that you mention the HPV vaccine. It's extremely expensive, although that's not entirely based on the research costs. "Gardasil took more than
by WillyF 16y ago
It's interesting that you mention the HPV vaccine. It's extremely expensive, although that's not entirely based on the research costs.
"Gardasil took more than 20 years to develop, is complex to manufacture, and must be constantly refrigerated, but that’s not why it’s so expensive. Instead, Merck calculated the price based on the money the vaccine will save the entire health-care system—and the CDC approved the price, as it does with other vaccines."
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jun/hpv http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jun/hpv
- _delirium 16y agoThe private-sector research costs in that case were also mainly the commercialization/manufacturing research, not the basic R&D. Still significant, but Merck didn't discover the vaccine or do the basic science; that was done by a group of several universities working with the National Cancer Center.
- philwelch 16y agoSo the price is based on the value more than the cost. As the patent expires or competitors develop their HPV vaccines the price will fall.