2 ms·

> “I’ve spent the last 25 years creating breakthrough new medicines,” Borisy said in an interview. “We’ve ratcheted up the prices on them ever higher, frankly,

by dpflan 7y ago

> “I’ve spent the last 25 years creating breakthrough new medicines,” Borisy said in an interview. “We’ve ratcheted up the prices on them ever higher, frankly, because we can,” he said. “And the reality is we can create a lot of these great new medicines, and turn that into a viable business charging a lot less for them. This is not fantasy world. This is something that can be done.” Is he saying that he has participated in price increases because he could?

trekrich 7y ago
yea i suppose so, but then something in his world changed. And he thought maybe we can change this for the better. I would be interested to see what it was. Maybe he can just make more money doing this.
- toast0 7y ago
  It sounds like the idea is to spend less money on research by seeking to make equivalents (but not generics? and not infringing patents) and then sell them for less. And, presumably, encourage pharmacies to fill with theirs instead of the original. If the development costs really are lower, and the targeted drugs have enough of a market, it seems totally reasonable to reduce end user costs and still make a bunch of money.
  - s1artibartfast 7y ago
    I'm still skeptical. It seems like this approach would be harder than making a biosimilar drug, which still takes >$100 million and 5-8 years. Pharmacies are not allowed to fill will biologic generics without FDA bio-interchangeable approval, which no biologic in the US has obtained. They would not be able to substitute an alternative drug either.
ldoughty 7y ago
If I could get a few million dollars _mostly_ at the expense of big businesses/insurers, I would to... Hell, having even 25k in disposable income makes starting a new business a reality... Which is inconceivable when you can pocket less than $1000/paycheck. And competition is what makes other's lives better under a capitalistic economic system (not saying that's the best, but it's what is most of us have)

by dpflan 7y ago

trekrich 7y ago

yea i suppose so, but then something in his world changed. And he thought maybe we can change this for the better. I would be interested to see what it was. Maybe he can just make more money doing this.

toast0 7y ago
It sounds like the idea is to spend less money on research by seeking to make equivalents (but not generics? and not infringing patents) and then sell them for less. And, presumably, encourage pharmacies to fill with theirs instead of the original. If the development costs really are lower, and the targeted drugs have enough of a market, it seems totally reasonable to reduce end user costs and still make a bunch of money.
- s1artibartfast 7y ago
  I'm still skeptical. It seems like this approach would be harder than making a biosimilar drug, which still takes >$100 million and 5-8 years. Pharmacies are not allowed to fill will biologic generics without FDA bio-interchangeable approval, which no biologic in the US has obtained. They would not be able to substitute an alternative drug either.

ldoughty 7y ago

If I could get a few million dollars _mostly_ at the expense of big businesses/insurers, I would to... Hell, having even 25k in disposable income makes starting a new business a reality... Which is inconceivable when you can pocket less than $1000/paycheck. And competition is what makes other's lives better under a capitalistic economic system (not saying that's the best, but it's what is most of us have)