[geeks] Drug prices [was Re: ?nVidia 8800GT for Apple Mac Pro]

[Lionel Peterson]

>From: Joshua Boyd <jdboyd at jdboyd.net>
>Date: 2008/05/23 Fri AM 10:47:12 EDT
>To: The Geeks List <geeks at sunhelp.org>
>Subject: Re: [geeks] Drug prices [was Re: ?nVidia 8800GT for Apple Mac Pro]

<snip of Indian reformulation of AIDs Cocktail treatment>

>I don't agree that it was wrong, unless they are breaking a treaty to do
>so.  If they are breaking the treaty, they should just be up front and
>end it or renegotiate.

Wait a minute - a few US pharma companies spend millions and millions of dollars to prove to the FDA and international regulatory bodies that their drugs are effective, then they invest in Mfg. plants to produce the drug, and then an Indian company takes the formulations of each treatment and produces their own copies of the combination for sale, paying no royalties to the companies that "discovered" the treatments.

I think you assumed there was an agreement between the US Pharmas and the Indian Pharma companies - there wasn't/isn't/won't ever be. The Indian company isn't interested in paying royalties to anyone, they simply profit from the innovation funded by those high pharmaceutical margins in the developed world.

Lionel