USA buys up world stock of remdesivir • Hacker News Board

Re: USA buys up world stock of remdesivir

#51

Post by BerislavLopac » Wed, Jul 01, 2020, 1:48 PM UTC

kstenerud wrote: post #2

"The drug, which was invented for Ebola but failed to work, is under patent to Gilead, which means no other company in wealthy countries can make it." Sorry, but if the one blessed company with the patent can't keep up with demand, and millions are going to die because there are patent restrictions, then ignore the patent laws and save some lives. It wouldn't look too good if the American government tried to stop it,…

This Twitter thread explains in detail how the pharmaceutical pricing works: https://twitter.com/chimeracoder/status/1278041777883303936

Re: USA buys up world stock of remdesivir

#52

Post by newsbinator » Wed, Jul 01, 2020, 1:48 PM UTC

whymauri wrote: post #15

kstenerud wrote: post #2

"The drug, which was invented for Ebola but failed to work, is under patent to Gilead, which means no other company in wealthy countries can make it." Sorry, but if the one blessed company with the patent can't keep up with demand, and millions are going to die because there are patent restrictions, then ignore the patent laws and save some lives. It wouldn't look too good if the American government tried to stop it,…

Fortunately, it's possible millions will not die in this case because remdisivir is most likely a quality-of-life therapeutic for people in the recovery phase. Your intuition is real though and my existential terror is that a real viral entry treatment will be developed, and that it may become unavailable or means-tested in an exclusionary way.

Imagine going about your life like a normal person into your 40's or 50's, then one day deciding as the CEO of a company that you'd rather millions of people die than let your investors down or let your company go out of business.

I suppose there are fiduciary duty ramifications too that will potentially ruin your life, but still... one day you're a moral, law-abiding person, the next you're a mass murderer (by abstention).

And then you have to be able to sleep at night too.

Re: USA buys up world stock of remdesivir

#53

Post by raxxorrax » Wed, Jul 01, 2020, 1:50 PM UTC

kstenerud wrote: post #2

"The drug, which was invented for Ebola but failed to work, is under patent to Gilead, which means no other company in wealthy countries can make it." Sorry, but if the one blessed company with the patent can't keep up with demand, and millions are going to die because there are patent restrictions, then ignore the patent laws and save some lives. It wouldn't look too good if the American government tried to stop it,…

The real scandal is that the drug doesn't really work the well. But the government can certainly sell this as a victory, especially since Trump was accused for promoting chloroquine and now he has access to both competing "solutions".

Re: USA buys up world stock of remdesivir

#54

Post by tootie » Wed, Jul 01, 2020, 1:50 PM UTC

somurzakov wrote: post #16

1. remdesivir is not a cure for COVID and not as valuable to the rest of the world. We need vaccine 2. there is plenty of generic remdesivir in India

Last I read, the trial results for Remdesvir were disappointing. Much less encouraging that the trials using steroids. Is remdesvir actually that valuable?

Re: USA buys up world stock of remdesivir

#55

Post by b112 » Wed, Jul 01, 2020, 1:51 PM UTC

vikramkr wrote: post #23

kleiba wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2. there is plenty of generic remdesivir in India How does this go together with the claim that "Remdesivir is patented by California-based Gilead"?

They basically gave away licenses to generics manufacturers- gilead has been very reasonable. Also, not all countries respect patents.

This is exceptionally important to mention, too.

Imagine "doing the right thing", and then people lamblasting you, upset at you, and even actively working against you.

Re: USA buys up world stock of remdesivir

#56

Post by bmmayer1 » Wed, Jul 01, 2020, 1:52 PM UTC

ianleeclark wrote: post #35

bmmayer1 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That said, patent restrictions are arguably the only reason the drug exists in the first place. So let's not get out over our skis here.

Just because it is doesn't mean it ought to be. This, in fact, seems to be a pretty clear indication of why alternative funding methods should be considered.

Alternative funding methods already exist. Nothing is stopping governments or nonprofits from funding or developing new drugs. So what's your proposal here?

Re: USA buys up world stock of remdesivir

#57

Post by bmmayer1 » Wed, Jul 01, 2020, 1:54 PM UTC

x86_64Ubuntu wrote: post #44

bmmayer1 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That said, patent restrictions are arguably the only reason the drug exists in the first place. So let's not get out over our skis here.

Remdesivir was developed with public funds. Shouldn't the fact that the public shouldered the risk of development be factored into any of this? https://www.uab.edu/news/health/item/11082-investigational-c...

That's a good point.

Re: USA buys up world stock of remdesivir

#58

Post by sukilot » Wed, Jul 01, 2020, 1:58 PM UTC

spzb wrote: post #49

kjaftaedi wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about India? Aren't they famous for having laws that ignore pharmaceutical patents? One would think this would be a rather large opportunity for them.

Yes. It's mentioned near the end of the article.

Where is the article?

Re: USA buys up world stock of remdesivir

#59

Post by Consultant32452 » Wed, Jul 01, 2020, 2:06 PM UTC

kstenerud wrote: post #2

"The drug, which was invented for Ebola but failed to work, is under patent to Gilead, which means no other company in wealthy countries can make it." Sorry, but if the one blessed company with the patent can't keep up with demand, and millions are going to die because there are patent restrictions, then ignore the patent laws and save some lives. It wouldn't look too good if the American government tried to stop it,…

The last studies I saw showed Remdesivir didn't actually save lives. Unless some very different studies have come out, this is just a politically connected pharma company using the pandemic to get a fat check from the US government. This is just your standard every day corruption.

Re: USA buys up world stock of remdesivir

#60

Post by tryptophan » Wed, Jul 01, 2020, 2:11 PM UTC

x86_64Ubuntu wrote: post #44

bmmayer1 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That said, patent restrictions are arguably the only reason the drug exists in the first place. So let's not get out over our skis here.

Remdesivir was developed with public funds. Shouldn't the fact that the public shouldered the risk of development be factored into any of this? https://www.uab.edu/news/health/item/11082-investigational-c...

Technically true, but completely misrepresents the issue.

Discovering (100s of)compounds in a lab (which is what the public funds pay for) is the easy and much cheaper part.

Testing it in humans and modifying it for that purpose is hard, expensive, and time consuming. Pretending like these drug companies do nothing and just take all the benefit from public research is incorrect.