As regulator prepares to approve Lenacapavir in the US, campaigners are urging the manufacturer, Gilead, to make it ‘available and affordable for all who need it’
Nobody was saying it would be. The headline and article are about production costs at different scales, not prices for anyone buying it after that.
Hill had calculated a generic price of $40 annually last year, but said the interest from generic manufacturers had warranted new analysis. This showed lenacapavir could be mass produced for $35 to $46 a year, if there was annual demand for 2m doses, falling to $25 at scaled up production of 5m to 10m doses each year.
Oh wait, I missed a line where the article actually suggests this…
Dr Hill’s research indicates that this gamechanging innovation could – within a year of launch – be produced and sold for just $25 per person per year.
But you’re right, they won’t sell it for $0 of profit. It would be nice.
FDA can grant exclusivity to that drug. And then once there’s finally a generic that can also be granted a one year exclusivity. The FDA facilitates scarcity.
But it won’t be
Oh, it will be, but they’ll mark it up 100,000%
Then it won’t be 25 dollars.
Nobody was saying it would be. The headline and article are about production costs at different scales, not prices for anyone buying it after that.Oh wait, I missed a line where the article actually suggests this…
But you’re right, they won’t sell it for $0 of profit. It would be nice.
FDA can grant exclusivity to that drug. And then once there’s finally a generic that can also be granted a one year exclusivity. The FDA facilitates scarcity.
No they’ll sell it for 50x what an annual treatment regimen costs. That way they can grind down the desperate and still profit off the rich.
It’ll cost $25 to produce. Selling cost is another matter entirely.