3 ms·

> it just sounds like the same strategy the UK has been attempting You mean selling the COVID vaccine to 3rd world countries at cost/zero-profit, or others pr

• iainmerrick 6y ago
  Well, yes! Substitute “zero profit” with “low cost” and it sounds like the same idea. The key question would seem to be, who can produce and distribute those billions of doses first? Is the AstraZeneca vaccine being produced at a large enough scale already, and/or has the current capacity already been bought up by the EU and other rich countries?
  • DrBazza 6y ago
    "Big Pharma" needs to make a profit from somewhere to finance r&d. 9 in 10 drugs (warning, made up statistic alert) don't reach the market, or something like that. And then they need to spend money on manufacturing. Then of course you have 'generics' when the drug is out of patent and other companies can produce it without royalties. From the BBC article(s) I believe the UK has ordered 100m doses. I have no idea who is producing those though, and how long it takes.
    • bboreham 6y ago
      Multiple factories, though one is the Serum Institute of India, said to be the largest in the world. https://in.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-india-cases/india-could-get-access-to-astrazeneca-vaccine-by-january-local-manufacturer-says-idINKBN280101 https://in.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-india-c...