![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Because they're going to.
They're wanting to contract with the government for $700 for a five-day treatment. From the article: "Merck's advance purchase agreement with the US government pegs the price of a five-day treatment at about $700. But an independent analysis by public health researchers at Harvard estimated that a sustainable generic price—with a 10 percent profit margin built in—would be just $20 per treatment. Further, rival generic manufacturers in India are already expected to offer the drug at $15 or less for a treatment once it's authorized for use.
Given that, the $700 price tag in the US represents a 46-fold markup of the drug..."
Now, here's the beauty of it: it's already paid for, there is no R&D to recoup. Merck didn't develop it. It was developed by Emory University with $35 million worth of grant money by NIH an the Defense Department.
'But, it's not how much it's going to cost, it's how much you're going to save!' Also from the article, "As Business Insider notes, the US government pays $2,100 for an infusion of Regeneron's COVID-19 antibody cocktail and $3,200 for a five-day intravenous course of Gilead Sciences' antiviral remdesivir.As Business Insider notes, the US government pays $2,100 for an infusion of Regeneron's COVID-19 antibody cocktail and $3,200 for a five-day intravenous course of Gilead Sciences' antiviral remdesivir." And this pill would save even more because those treatments are usually given in-hospital to pretty sick people, and this pill could prevent the hospitalization entirely, which would save the hospital cost and keep some beds empty. Well, the beds wouldn't be empty, they'd fill up with other Covid patients for some time.
Meanwhile, Merck would make billions.
Good ol' American Capitalism at its finest. Privatize the profits - even if you didn't pay the costs, and socialize the losses. And there's no losses to spread around in this case!
https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/10/mercks-thor-inspired-covid-treatment-hammered-for-700-price-a-46x-markup/
They're wanting to contract with the government for $700 for a five-day treatment. From the article: "Merck's advance purchase agreement with the US government pegs the price of a five-day treatment at about $700. But an independent analysis by public health researchers at Harvard estimated that a sustainable generic price—with a 10 percent profit margin built in—would be just $20 per treatment. Further, rival generic manufacturers in India are already expected to offer the drug at $15 or less for a treatment once it's authorized for use.
Given that, the $700 price tag in the US represents a 46-fold markup of the drug..."
Now, here's the beauty of it: it's already paid for, there is no R&D to recoup. Merck didn't develop it. It was developed by Emory University with $35 million worth of grant money by NIH an the Defense Department.
'But, it's not how much it's going to cost, it's how much you're going to save!' Also from the article, "As Business Insider notes, the US government pays $2,100 for an infusion of Regeneron's COVID-19 antibody cocktail and $3,200 for a five-day intravenous course of Gilead Sciences' antiviral remdesivir.As Business Insider notes, the US government pays $2,100 for an infusion of Regeneron's COVID-19 antibody cocktail and $3,200 for a five-day intravenous course of Gilead Sciences' antiviral remdesivir." And this pill would save even more because those treatments are usually given in-hospital to pretty sick people, and this pill could prevent the hospitalization entirely, which would save the hospital cost and keep some beds empty. Well, the beds wouldn't be empty, they'd fill up with other Covid patients for some time.
Meanwhile, Merck would make billions.
Good ol' American Capitalism at its finest. Privatize the profits - even if you didn't pay the costs, and socialize the losses. And there's no losses to spread around in this case!
https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/10/mercks-thor-inspired-covid-treatment-hammered-for-700-price-a-46x-markup/
