4 ms·

Sure, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Nth vial cost $0.93 to produce. The first vial cost $2,000,000,000. Don't forget about the other drug research projects that failed a

Sure, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Nth vial cost $0.93 to produce. The first vial cost $2,000,000,000. Don't forget about the other drug research projects that failed and also cost billions in fruitless R&D.

slyrus 6y ago
I thought you wrote "fruitflies" R&D and was thinking 1) why are they hating and drosophila and 2) I don't think flies are really a comon model for Nucs BICBW. But then I reread the word...
grumple 6y ago
How much of that first vial was paid for by taxpayers? Does a single drug and associated trials really cost billions to develop? That's a year's worth of pay for 10,000 scientists at 200k/year (I suspect this is a rather high rate for most phd researchers). Most research teams are < 10 people [1]. You could fund 500 large research teams working on different drugs for 2 billion for a year. Let's say just one team, that funds them for 500 years. Obviously there are other costs (rent, equipment, materials). But where is that money going? It doesn't seem to be going towards doing the science. It's extremely difficult to find breakdowns of R+D costs - seems to be a tightly held secret at big pharma. 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4465944/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4465944/
- ativzzz 6y ago
  AFAIK, the research done by tax payers is the underlying biology. In other words, researching that protein X is responsible for biological processes A, B, and C and changing X to Y increases A and B but decreases C. Then, it's still the responsibility of pharma companies to figure out how to create a compound that can then safely trigger the change of protein X -> Y
- sdinsn 6y ago
  > How much of that first vial was paid for by taxpayers? How does being funded by the taxpayers mean anything?
  - grumple 6y ago
    Because if the taxpayers pay for the research in the first place, they shouldn't have to pay for it again at point of sale for corporate profit.
    - sdinsn 6y ago
      Taxpayers paid for only some of the research. Gilead spent billions of their own to develop it.
      - grumple 6y ago
        If they accepted any federal money, they should be subject to federal restrictions on pricing. You don’t get to socialize the costs and privatize the revenue.
        gravy 6y ago
        > You don’t get to socialize the costs and privatize the revenue. Why not? Corporations are still taxed on their profits.

Sure, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Nth vial cost $0.93 to produce. The first vial cost $2,000,000,000. Don't forget about the other drug research projects that failed and also cost billions in fruitless R&D.

slyrus 6y ago

I thought you wrote "fruitflies" R&D and was thinking 1) why are they hating and drosophila and 2) I don't think flies are really a comon model for Nucs BICBW. But then I reread the word...

grumple 6y ago

How much of that first vial was paid for by taxpayers? Does a single drug and associated trials really cost billions to develop? That's a year's worth of pay for 10,000 scientists at 200k/year (I suspect this is a rather high rate for most phd researchers). Most research teams are < 10 people [1]. You could fund 500 large research teams working on different drugs for 2 billion for a year. Let's say just one team, that funds them for 500 years. Obviously there are other costs (rent, equipment, materials). But where is that money going? It doesn't seem to be going towards doing the science. It's extremely difficult to find breakdowns of R+D costs - seems to be a tightly held secret at big pharma. 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4465944/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4465944/

ativzzz 6y ago
AFAIK, the research done by tax payers is the underlying biology. In other words, researching that protein X is responsible for biological processes A, B, and C and changing X to Y increases A and B but decreases C. Then, it's still the responsibility of pharma companies to figure out how to create a compound that can then safely trigger the change of protein X -> Y
sdinsn 6y ago
> How much of that first vial was paid for by taxpayers? How does being funded by the taxpayers mean anything?
- grumple 6y ago
  Because if the taxpayers pay for the research in the first place, they shouldn't have to pay for it again at point of sale for corporate profit.
  - sdinsn 6y ago
    Taxpayers paid for only some of the research. Gilead spent billions of their own to develop it.
    - grumple 6y ago
      If they accepted any federal money, they should be subject to federal restrictions on pricing. You don’t get to socialize the costs and privatize the revenue.
      - gravy 6y ago
        > You don’t get to socialize the costs and privatize the revenue. Why not? Corporations are still taxed on their profits.