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This will greatly decrease R+D spending on disruptive new pharmaceutical drugs. The Covid vaccines were developed and deployed by private industry.

hestefisk 4y ago
Only because it was underwritten by government balance sheet.
nhchris 4y ago
Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine research ‘was 97% publicly funded’ - https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/apr/15/oxfordastrazeneca-covid-vaccine-research-was-97-publicly-funded https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/apr/15/oxfordastraz... It would be nice to see a similar analysis for Moderna's vaccine, but of course the companies like to keep their cards close to their chest.
- Grim-444 4y ago
  There's a difference between funding research and funding development and manufacturing. No company would develop and manufacture a drug if they wouldn't make profit of it, no matter how much related research was or wasn't done using public funding.
  - nhchris 4y ago
    > There's a difference between funding research and funding development and manufacturing. The 97% figure from the study is for research and development. As for manufacturing, they would recoup that from selling the vaccine at/slightly above manufacturing cost. As the article I linked states, they didn't like that deal. And the next time they come out with some drug or vaccine, will we also just assume most of the funds were private, until proven otherwise? Why not assume the opposite, and let them prove they're not fleecing us? Are they so trustworthy and benevolent?
  - petre 4y ago
    Then the company receiving public finds for R&D should grand licenses royality free for anyone in that country/union to manufacture the vaccine. You're a Chinese company that wants to produce vaccines? Estabilsh a factory in the country of origin, obtain a license from the original manufacturer and start producing.
salawat 4y ago
Somehow, I doubt a bunch of incredibly motivated pharmaceutical researchers are going to be turned out into the streets, and stop doing research because a bunch of yield farmers don't have an instant IWIN moneyprinter anymore.
I_AM_A_SMURF 4y ago
lol what? the Covid vaccines were funded by the US goverment (and others).
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- SllX 4y ago
  As customers of the vaccine to deliver to their citizenry. You might as well say Microsoft is funded by the US government (and others) because they buy Windows and Office licenses: technically true and also misleading because it’s revenue for a product they sold them for a profit. Those profits fund further R&D into new products, some of which will be sold on the private market and some of which will be sold to governments.
  - dns_snek 4y ago
    Your analogy doesn't hold up. Initial R&D of Covid vaccines was largely funded by taxpayers in addition to advance purchase guarantees and limitation of legal liability to eliminate any risk whatsoever. After the public assumed any and all risk, profits are now going in private pockets. Your analogy is misleading and dishonest. > Since 2006, Congress has appropriated hundreds of millions of dollars that BARDA used to develop the scientific infrastructure to produce vaccines in response to the threat of pandemic flu. Thus, the basic research undergirding the COVID-19 vaccines was largely publicly supported. > Recent estimates indicate that the government spent more than $900 million dollars supporting non-clinical studies and research to accelerate movement of candidate vaccines into clinical trials at companies such as Johnson and Johnson, Sanofi, Merck, and Moderna. > Johnson and Johnson, Moderna, Sanofi, and AstraZeneca together are estimated to have received more than $2.7 billion from the federal government to cover expenses related to human trials. The bulk of money was directed at Phase III trials, which compare new treatments against standard care and where most human test costs are incurred. https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20210512.191448/ https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20210512.... https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/after-nearly-1b-research-funding-moderna-takes-1-5b-coronavirus-vaccine-order-from-u-s https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/after-nearly-1b-research...

hestefisk 4y ago

Only because it was underwritten by government balance sheet.

nhchris 4y ago

Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine research ‘was 97% publicly funded’ - https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/apr/15/oxfordastrazeneca-covid-vaccine-research-was-97-publicly-funded https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/apr/15/oxfordastraz... It would be nice to see a similar analysis for Moderna's vaccine, but of course the companies like to keep their cards close to their chest.

Grim-444 4y ago
There's a difference between funding research and funding development and manufacturing. No company would develop and manufacture a drug if they wouldn't make profit of it, no matter how much related research was or wasn't done using public funding.
- nhchris 4y ago
  > There's a difference between funding research and funding development and manufacturing. The 97% figure from the study is for research and development. As for manufacturing, they would recoup that from selling the vaccine at/slightly above manufacturing cost. As the article I linked states, they didn't like that deal. And the next time they come out with some drug or vaccine, will we also just assume most of the funds were private, until proven otherwise? Why not assume the opposite, and let them prove they're not fleecing us? Are they so trustworthy and benevolent?
- petre 4y ago
  Then the company receiving public finds for R&D should grand licenses royality free for anyone in that country/union to manufacture the vaccine. You're a Chinese company that wants to produce vaccines? Estabilsh a factory in the country of origin, obtain a license from the original manufacturer and start producing.

salawat 4y ago

Somehow, I doubt a bunch of incredibly motivated pharmaceutical researchers are going to be turned out into the streets, and stop doing research because a bunch of yield farmers don't have an instant IWIN moneyprinter anymore.

I_AM_A_SMURF 4y ago

lol what? the Covid vaccines were funded by the US goverment (and others).

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
SllX 4y ago
As customers of the vaccine to deliver to their citizenry. You might as well say Microsoft is funded by the US government (and others) because they buy Windows and Office licenses: technically true and also misleading because it’s revenue for a product they sold them for a profit. Those profits fund further R&D into new products, some of which will be sold on the private market and some of which will be sold to governments.
- dns_snek 4y ago
  Your analogy doesn't hold up. Initial R&D of Covid vaccines was largely funded by taxpayers in addition to advance purchase guarantees and limitation of legal liability to eliminate any risk whatsoever. After the public assumed any and all risk, profits are now going in private pockets. Your analogy is misleading and dishonest. > Since 2006, Congress has appropriated hundreds of millions of dollars that BARDA used to develop the scientific infrastructure to produce vaccines in response to the threat of pandemic flu. Thus, the basic research undergirding the COVID-19 vaccines was largely publicly supported. > Recent estimates indicate that the government spent more than $900 million dollars supporting non-clinical studies and research to accelerate movement of candidate vaccines into clinical trials at companies such as Johnson and Johnson, Sanofi, Merck, and Moderna. > Johnson and Johnson, Moderna, Sanofi, and AstraZeneca together are estimated to have received more than $2.7 billion from the federal government to cover expenses related to human trials. The bulk of money was directed at Phase III trials, which compare new treatments against standard care and where most human test costs are incurred. https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20210512.191448/ https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20210512.... https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/after-nearly-1b-research-funding-moderna-takes-1-5b-coronavirus-vaccine-order-from-u-s https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/after-nearly-1b-research...