Generic version of a drug already on the market, which can suppress and prevent HIV, would still yield 30% profit if the current price was slashed, researchers say
In a study presented at the 25th international Aids conference in Munich on Tuesday, experts calculated that the minimum price for mass production of a generic version, based on the costs of lenacapavir’s ingredients and manufacturing, and allowing for 30% profit, was $40 a year , assuming 10 million people used it annually. In the long-term, 60 million people would probably need to take the drug preventatively to lower HIV levels significantly, they said.
Accounting for 30% profit seems reasonable to me.
Yet they’re selling it for 1000x the price.
I understand they need to recoup research costs, but…
And the 30% profit is for a generic product, so the research has already been done.
So yeah, 30% profit is of course much better than 3000%, but both are still obscene profiteering off of a lifesaving product paid for by, and then essentially withheld for ransom from, the general public.
Accounting for 30% profit seems reasonable to me.
Yet they’re selling it for 1000x the price.
I understand they need to recoup research costs, but…
I have no other words.
Except they don’t even need to do that, because, as is with most pharmaceuticals, the research was almost fully funded by the taxpayer.
And the 30% profit is for a generic product, so the research has already been done.
So yeah, 30% profit is of course much better than 3000%, but both are still obscene profiteering off of a lifesaving product paid for by, and then essentially withheld for ransom from, the general public.