3 ms·

$20k per dose Jesus H Christ. Rent seeking galore. Hopefully the patent has run out by now and others can get in on the action and make it affordable. There’s n

$20k per dose Jesus H Christ. Rent seeking galore. Hopefully the patent has run out by now and others can get in on the action and make it affordable. There’s no way in hell this could possibly cost $20k. Is capitalism ever going to produce innovation that’s affordable to regular people again and not just benefiting the profiteering VC parasite class?

malermeister 3y ago
The patent has expired. The whole pitch here is to modify the tech a bit so they can patent it again and charge 20k/dose.
tptacek 3y ago
I'm not going to say I buy any of this or that I think it's a good pitch, but you see these numbers for new treatments because the math doesn't work out for the go-to-market without them. When the product is established, the price goes down.
jefftk 3y ago
> Hopefully the patent has run out by now and others can get in on the action and make it affordable. The patent has run out, and in the ~20y since it expired no one has tried to revive the idea. Why are you faulting the people who are finally picking the idea back up instead of all the people who could have but didn't over the last ~20y?
- boredpeter 3y ago
  I’m faulting them because it’s nothing more than a get rich quick scheme. Another comment even noted they are slightly tweaking it so they can get another patent for it. The government should be funding this and making it available to the general population at an affordable price instead of just having the free market “figure it out” and making something affordable only to the ultra rich. But the US is a country where the government isn’t allowed to do anything and everything has to be left to the free market which nowadays is nothing more than a bunch of hyper capitalistic rent seekers that are only interested in maximizing profit at the expense of everyone else.
  - astrange 3y ago
    If they want to pay for it they can, but the most effective way for public healthcare to reduce costs is by not paying for expensive things.
  - jefftk 3y ago
    The impression I have from your comment is that you think that the US is unusually bad at this? Which seems a bit hard to square with no other country having sorted out a caries vaccine either. Including many rich countries with socialized medicine.
karaterobot 3y ago
> Is capitalism ever going to produce innovation that’s affordable to regular people again and not just benefiting the profiteering VC parasite class? No way, those capitalist parasites will never make anything affordable. Sent from my iPhone On an IKEA sofa Drinking coffee from another hemisphere
- justsomehnguy 3y ago
  Hardware sales are not the primary revenue stream for Apple, it's services. Would iPhone be the same if there was no need to sell iCloud and iTunes?

malermeister 3y ago

The patent has expired. The whole pitch here is to modify the tech a bit so they can patent it again and charge 20k/dose.

tptacek 3y ago

I'm not going to say I buy any of this or that I think it's a good pitch, but you see these numbers for new treatments because the math doesn't work out for the go-to-market without them. When the product is established, the price goes down.

jefftk 3y ago

> Hopefully the patent has run out by now and others can get in on the action and make it affordable. The patent has run out, and in the ~20y since it expired no one has tried to revive the idea. Why are you faulting the people who are finally picking the idea back up instead of all the people who could have but didn't over the last ~20y?

boredpeter 3y ago
I’m faulting them because it’s nothing more than a get rich quick scheme. Another comment even noted they are slightly tweaking it so they can get another patent for it. The government should be funding this and making it available to the general population at an affordable price instead of just having the free market “figure it out” and making something affordable only to the ultra rich. But the US is a country where the government isn’t allowed to do anything and everything has to be left to the free market which nowadays is nothing more than a bunch of hyper capitalistic rent seekers that are only interested in maximizing profit at the expense of everyone else.
- astrange 3y ago
  If they want to pay for it they can, but the most effective way for public healthcare to reduce costs is by not paying for expensive things.
- jefftk 3y ago
  The impression I have from your comment is that you think that the US is unusually bad at this? Which seems a bit hard to square with no other country having sorted out a caries vaccine either. Including many rich countries with socialized medicine.

karaterobot 3y ago

> Is capitalism ever going to produce innovation that’s affordable to regular people again and not just benefiting the profiteering VC parasite class? No way, those capitalist parasites will never make anything affordable. Sent from my iPhone On an IKEA sofa Drinking coffee from another hemisphere

justsomehnguy 3y ago
Hardware sales are not the primary revenue stream for Apple, it's services. Would iPhone be the same if there was no need to sell iCloud and iTunes?