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I don't think it's even obvious/common knowledge in public discourse, to be honest. (Case in point: this Guardian article doesn't mention it at all, only mentio

I don't think it's even obvious/common knowledge in public discourse, to be honest. (Case in point: this Guardian article doesn't mention it at all, only mentioning the cost of materials and manufacturing.) To some extent it may not even matter, since the effects of (negative) public opinion are tangible regardless of whether those opinions are fully informed of all the facts. (And even as someone who's aware of a slightly above-average number of facts, my own opinion skews pretty negative.) God knows these companies aren't in the red, trials or no trials; most consumers are just gonna look at the record profits, then back at their pharmacy bill, and go "Hey, wait a minute..."

a_puppy 2y ago
> this Guardian article doesn't mention R&D at all This pisses me off so much. Journalists are supposed to do thorough research so they can accurately inform the public. Instead, we see articles like this. How can we have a thoughtful discussion about serious issues when the general public is so misinformed? > God knows these companies aren't in the red, trials or no trials Hmmm, I'm not sure. Here's a summary of the finances of the global pharma industry: https://www.ispor.org/docs/default-source/euro2023/poster-ispor-profitability-291023130819-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=cd54cb76_0 https://www.ispor.org/docs/default-source/euro2023/poster-is... Note that 55% of the companies made a profit, and the other 45% lost money. The average profit margin was 20%. On one hand, that's larger than most industries. On the other hand, even if pharma profits were completely eliminated, drugs would only be 20% cheaper...