Drug's 5,000% price increase, where's the justification?

Caporegime
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They spend more on marketing than they ever do on developing drugs.

This isn't even a pharma company, I highly doubt this guy will develop any new drugs.

where does it say it isnt a pharma company?

Turing Pharmaceuticals AG is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company with offices in Zug Switzerland and New York, New York. Turing focuses on developing and commercializing innovative treatments for serious diseases and conditions across a broad range of therapeutic areas, for which there are currently limited or no treatment options. Products being developed include intranasal ketamine for a variety of mood disorders and Syntocinon® (oxytocin nasal solution) for multiple indications. Daraprim (pyrimethamine) for the treatment of Toxoplasmosis in combination with sulfonamide and Vecamyl® (mecamylamine HCl tablets) for hypertension are Turing’s first commercial products.
 
Associate
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Bit of a tangent but you do have to wonder what sort of shenanigans big pharma profit chasing companies have gotten up to over the years. Obviously they research and develop some amazing drugs etc but is there an ethical code they must comply to and is it overseen at an international level? Doubt it.
Totally hypothetical but take treatment vs cure as an example. It'd be more profitable to develop a treatment to a disease someone will have to take for years rather than a magic bullet to cure it on one hit. If they had both is there anything to stop them just releasing an inferior drug that will need to be taken for a lot longer?
 
Caporegime
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They spend more on marketing than they ever do on developing drugs.

No they don't. That's just a Daily Mail myth people like to believe cause they don't like companies making profits from people being ill.

R&D spend is massively more than marketing. Up to 10 fold.

Problem is in accounting figures. Marketing is lumped in with sales, legal fees, lease/rent, ultilities, executive salaries and other costs. Thats why most Pharmaceutical firms show SG&A spend to be as big or larger than R&D.
 
Soldato
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Can imagine R&D costs a lot more than marketing, but I was amazed by the sheer ammount of prescription drugs adverts that were on the TV when I was in New York last month, was madness.
 
Soldato
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Pharmaceuticals make more profits than banks and any other industry. I don't know how anyone can use the argument that they spend so much on R&D and that's why they sell them at large prices.
 
Caporegime
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Pharmaceuticals make more profits than banks and any other industry. I don't know how anyone can use the argument that they spend so much on R&D and that's why they sell them at large prices.

Except maybe the oil industry or mobile phone companies (don't shell and BP hold the records for the biggest profits or did Apple just beat that record?). However unlike banks, pharmaceutical companies invest a third back into r&d.

But I agree, the profits are huge in general.
 
Soldato
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Except maybe the oil industry or mobile phone companies (don't shell and BP hold the records for the biggest profits or did Apple just beat that record?). However unlike banks, pharmaceutical companies invest a third back into r&d.

But I agree, the profits are huge in general.

There profit margins are the largest and they other than a few of e

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Soldato
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Totally hypothetical but take treatment vs cure as an example. It'd be more profitable to develop a treatment to a disease someone will have to take for years rather than a magic bullet to cure it on one hit. If they had both is there anything to stop them just releasing an inferior drug that will need to be taken for a lot longer?

The problem is that someone else might then start selling the magic bullet and then you've lost your edge because that rival company will have exclusivity.

Why would rival corporations want to share a pie when they can have the whole pie? It ain't like they are going to lose money selling the cure.
 
Soldato
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I am not sure which is worse, the price hike or the people defending it.

People are incredibly stupid. Easy for them to sit and defend it when it's not them being taken to the cleaners by some scrawny little ****.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/tb-drug-price-cycloserine-1.3237868

This has happened before, and will happen again. It's all about greed, nothing more.

"http://www.rodelis.com/about-us-1/
The company that wanted to raise the price by 2000% is called Rodelis.
If you go to their website one of their "missions" is "ensure all patients have access to therapy". ********."

It's almost laughable. I think we're being trolled.

Cause, just like Anadin there will be some customers prepared to pay more than 10 times the cost of the generic ones.

You do realise right it's hard to get ahold of generics sometimes in america? and they forcefully attempt to stop you doing so. Someone posted on reddit talking about how they tried to buy a drug cheaper in canada and was told by the company they have to raise the price in line with the cost in the USA. Because.... just because.
 
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Caporegime
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The little ***** CEO's excuse for the price hike is that the drug is undervalued compared to other life saving drugs.

Well when the private sector is underpayed we bring down public sector pay in the name of fairness, so why not be completely backwards and shaft Joe Public in favour of big business when it comes to drug prices as well?
 
Soldato
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Part of the problem is how we dish out patents in general.

All scientific study is built upon the shoulders of others, no research team is an island in the world of discovery. While it's understandable that patents can be given for a limited number of time to ensure they are able to reap the initial investment - all should carry short life-spans to ensure these discoveries return to the public domain in which anybody can manufacture them.
 
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