3 ms·

But if the US made it so they couldn’t get high profits here anymore, wouldn’t they raise prices for everyone else?

threatripper 4y ago
If they could raise the prices they would have already. If they didn't make a profit they wouldn't produce and sell the product. So the reality is, that they would just lose some of the profit but nothing else would change. As others pointed out, it would affect decisions for future research. Because you can't just rake in the money in the US you must be more wise with spending your research money.
- leaflets2 4y ago
  Maybe moving the research to lower living cost countries? > If they could raise the prices they would have already. Good point
  - junofan 4y ago
    That’s been done. Over half of trial sites are outside the US. https://www.fda.gov/media/91849/download https://www.fda.gov/media/91849/download
NotACop182 4y ago
They have two choices. Sell for X profit or make no profit. You don’t turn away making millions if someone told you you couldn’t make a billion
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- junofan 4y ago
  Drugs must be developed before they may be sold. The two choices are develop/not develop. The drug developer may use a spreadsheet to calculate NPV. If negative, the drug is not developed.
oblio 4y ago
In single payer systems, they can't. The government literally tells you "you sell it for this much". And guess what, "that much" already covers their costs plus profit, so they keep selling. It's just profitable for them to price gouge you, and you don't fight back, at all.
- otterley 4y ago
  Sorry, but how exactly do you know how the finances work out for pharmaceutical development, manufacturing, and distribution around the world? You seem to know an awful lot about this.
  - oblio 4y ago
    1. If you're defending large corporations, always assume that they're adversarial. They're machines made to defend themselves/attack opponents. When posting in their favor, be careful not to become a shill for them, accidentally. As a general rule, defending the "big guy" on their behalf is generally a losing strategy. They can defend themselves already, no need to stand up for them. 2. I have family working in the medical and pharma fields. 3. I doesn't even matter what and who I know, this tells you everything you need to know: https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/PFE/pfizer/gross-profit https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/PFE/pfizer/gross-p... The profit graphs for most of the Big Pharmas look similar. They're hugely profitable. For sure they could lose a chunk of that and do fine. It's just greed. A bit of greed shows ambition. A lot of greed corrodes everything. It's just pathological at some point (money is not points on a mobile game leaderboard!).
    - otterley 4y ago
      Knowing the overall profit of the business doesn’t tell you exactly where the profits are coming from or how margins differ among different product lines and markets. I think we should refrain from claiming specific knowledge of a business’s finances and making confident conclusions unless we have more granular data or are actually employed by the businesses in question.

If they could raise the prices they would have already. If they didn't make a profit they wouldn't produce and sell the product. So the reality is, that they would just lose some of the profit but nothing else would change. As others pointed out, it would affect decisions for future research. Because you can't just rake in the money in the US you must be more wise with spending your research money.

leaflets2 4y ago
Maybe moving the research to lower living cost countries? > If they could raise the prices they would have already. Good point
- junofan 4y ago
  That’s been done. Over half of trial sites are outside the US. https://www.fda.gov/media/91849/download https://www.fda.gov/media/91849/download

NotACop182 4y ago

They have two choices. Sell for X profit or make no profit. You don’t turn away making millions if someone told you you couldn’t make a billion

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
junofan 4y ago
Drugs must be developed before they may be sold. The two choices are develop/not develop. The drug developer may use a spreadsheet to calculate NPV. If negative, the drug is not developed.

oblio 4y ago

In single payer systems, they can't. The government literally tells you "you sell it for this much". And guess what, "that much" already covers their costs plus profit, so they keep selling. It's just profitable for them to price gouge you, and you don't fight back, at all.

otterley 4y ago
Sorry, but how exactly do you know how the finances work out for pharmaceutical development, manufacturing, and distribution around the world? You seem to know an awful lot about this.
- oblio 4y ago
  1. If you're defending large corporations, always assume that they're adversarial. They're machines made to defend themselves/attack opponents. When posting in their favor, be careful not to become a shill for them, accidentally. As a general rule, defending the "big guy" on their behalf is generally a losing strategy. They can defend themselves already, no need to stand up for them. 2. I have family working in the medical and pharma fields. 3. I doesn't even matter what and who I know, this tells you everything you need to know: https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/PFE/pfizer/gross-profit https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/PFE/pfizer/gross-p... The profit graphs for most of the Big Pharmas look similar. They're hugely profitable. For sure they could lose a chunk of that and do fine. It's just greed. A bit of greed shows ambition. A lot of greed corrodes everything. It's just pathological at some point (money is not points on a mobile game leaderboard!).
  - otterley 4y ago
    Knowing the overall profit of the business doesn’t tell you exactly where the profits are coming from or how margins differ among different product lines and markets. I think we should refrain from claiming specific knowledge of a business’s finances and making confident conclusions unless we have more granular data or are actually employed by the businesses in question.