5 ms·
Current pricing for mRNA vaccines is something in the $4-7 dollars (that's $7.00 dollars, not $7,000.00 dollars) range. Compare that to one of the Hepatitis C t
by hadlock 6y ago
Current pricing for mRNA vaccines is something in the $4-7 dollars (that's $7.00 dollars, not $7,000.00 dollars) range. Compare that to one of the Hepatitis C treatments, which costs north of $350,000 by several accounts. Even remdesivir is something like $3000 for a course.
- hutzlibu 6y ago"Hepatitis C treatments" We don't really need the same quantities of that, though.
- mikecoles 6y agohttps://www.hhs.gov/hepatitis/learn-about-viral-hepatitis/data-and-trends/index.html https://www.hhs.gov/hepatitis/learn-about-viral-hepatitis/da... It can be said that hepatitis care is more necessary than covid.
- failwhaleshark 6y agoThere are roughly 75 million HCV infections in the world. That translates to a total cure cost of: 75M * $350k = $26.25T There are other ARV treatments available which cost now roughly $50-100k and cure in 3 months. Whereas immunizing everyone against coronaviruses currently costs: 8B * $7 = $56B Clearly, the costs of the HCV cure are predatory and unreasonable because it doesn't lead to eradication and it's inaccessible to the poor and the third-world.
- adgjlsfhk1 6y agoIt's also worth noting that if it's $7 for the payer, there's a lot less than $7 of profit.
- failwhaleshark 6y agoThe true unit cost is probably $6 per dose. The COVID vaccines may break-even short-term. Long-term, it's probably worth keeping an extra 120M potential customers alive for what will probably result in a small profit. The true unit cost of HCV cures is unknowable but possibly half of the current price.