[TheForge] New Pharmaceuticals (was: Doug Hendrickson)

[Bruce Freeman]

Yes.  That's true.  
Mind you, most pharmaceutical companies GIVE AWAY drugs to third world
nations.  The smallpox eradication project headed up by the WHO was
largely carried out by pharmaceutical companies.  Tsetse fly eradication
is supported by pesticide manufacturers.  They do this without
expectation of profit.
Think of it as American charity to the world.
However, drug companies are NOT "discounting" drugs to other countries,
if I understand correctly.  Rather, they are selling against contracts. 
A large contract gets a lower price.  I could be wrong.  I have a
limited perspective on this, too.
Bruce
NJ

>>> wmullett at bright.net 9/30/2004 10:09:51 AM >>>
The problem is that as it now stands, Americans are paying for the
development of the drugs and other countries reap the benefit.  The
development costs should be shared by all and the drug companies should
not
discount to other countries.

-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce Freeman <FREEMAB at pt.fdah.com>
To: theforge at mailman.qth.net <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Date: Thursday, September 30, 2004 9:49 AM
Subject: [TheForge] New Pharmaceuticals (was: Doug Hendrickson)


>>>> williamsiron at comcast.net 9/29/2004 7:09:20 PM >>>
><snip>
>
>>>>While ALS is a terminal illness, one should never give up hope for
a
>drug to slow it down or stop it.
>
>I work in the pharmaceutical industry, so I may be biased a bit,
>but...
>
>I want to point out that some folks out (and I don't mean on this
list)
>there are either very confused or quite hypocritical when it comes to
>drug prices.
>
>If we want new drugs to reverse or prevent the scourges of mankind,
>SOMEONE has to discover them, develop them, prove safety and
efficacy,
>do stability tests of the dosage forms, and bring them to market. 
Drugs
>can be ten years from discovery to availability.  I understand that
only
>one of ten or more drug candidates ever makes it to market.  That
means
>the some portion of the research must be done on the other nine or so
>candidates, with no income resulting for the pharmaceutical company.
>This is a very high-risk business.  Accordingly, it attracts
investors
>ONLY by being a very high profit business.
>
>The US pharmaceutical industry has been quite effective at bringing
>new, effective drugs to market.  Do we want to change this record?  I
>don't!
>
>There's no question that pharmaceuticals are high profit.  Double
digit
>profit is expected.  There ARE some misconceptions about how drug
>companies spend their incomes, however.  I've seen it asserted that
more
>is spent on sales than on research.  That's bullshit.  Almost
EVERYTHING
>a drug company does BESIDES manufacturing and sales IS research. 
(Okay,
>there's overhead like Personnel, Administratration, Purchasing, etc.,
>which only SERVE research, and there are departments like
"Regulatory"
>which provide the documentation to get drugs approved by the FDA. 
Those
>aren't strictly research, but research WITHOUT those functions
available
>would be useless.  Which is one reason drug companies are BIG.)
>
>As to the business of cheaper drugs from Canada.  That is a product
of
>socialist medicine in Canada.  The Canadian governments negotiates
drug
>prices, much as a large pharmacy chain might do.  Apparently, they
>negotiate quite well, and get low prices.  (ANY seller must view an
>order for a million widgets differently from an order for one widget,
>and will adjust prices accordingly.)
>
>In the USA, much of what you spend on drugs is middleman profits.
>After all, you NEED someone to fill those prescriptions, to be open
>24/7, etc.  (Some of those costs can be reduced by discount
suppliers,
>like ExpressScripts.com.)  So, when people go to Canada and bring
back
>drugs, they are bypassing the American distribution system.  They are
>NOT particularly hurting the drug companies.  This is NOT an issue of
>greedy drug companies.
>
>In sum, if you want cheap drug prices, go ahead and put price
>restrictions in place, or socialize US drug development.  If the
>government is in charge of drug development, you'll have wonderful
new
>drugs available:
>For headache:  aspirin
>for menstrual cramps:  aspirin
>for aches and pains:  aspirin
>for fever: aspirin
>to prevent heart disease:  aspirin
>to prevent stroke:  aspirin
>
>You get what you pay for.
>
>Bruce
>NJ
>
>
>
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