> This idea that drugs should be cheap and accessible the moment they are approved is incompatible with economic reality. I know that orphan drugs are lifesavi

> This idea that drugs should be cheap and accessible the moment they are approved is incompatible with economic reality. I know that orphan drugs are lifesaving and it is life-and-death for the people who do and don’t receive them, but this is generally not true, including for orphan drugs. I know because I have 2 rare immune mediated neurological diseases affecting my peripheral nervous system and I take an orphan drug (blood product) known as subcutaneous immunoglobulin. Soliris, one of the world’s most expensive drugs, costing ~$600,000/year in countries with “socialized medicine” is estimated to cost less than 1% of that price to produce, as in less than $6,000/year. This is from industry insiders who have technical experience. Not only that, it is estimated that 80-90% of the work was discovered on public, government funds. See at 11:30 https://youtu.be/0uYCw5EDX8U https://youtu.be/0uYCw5EDX8U I have a background in applied science and I agree that this is the general ballpark case for orphan drugs, based on reading patents.