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

[Joshua Boyd]

On Fri, May 23, 2008 at 08:27:25AM -0500, Lionel Peterson wrote:

> Theft is theft, and most countries (I believe - I'm leaving
> wiggle-room here...) honor each other's patents and intellectual
> property rights. Of course, there are also countries that don't. 

Sure, theft is theft.

But if India is sending thugs to rob the trucks leaving the drug factory
in the US or Australia, you would think that there would be a lot more
news coverage. 

I only mention Australia because Pfizer has (or at least used to) a
plant there producing drugs for the US market.

> The best thing I've heard about Pharma's innovating with another's
> product was the Indian (I think, could be wrong) Pharma that took what
> was a complex regimine of multiple pills at multiple times a day,
> reformulated and combined the drugs and made one pill you take at
> regular intervals (i.e. twice a day you take one pill, not several
> different ones, each at different intervals). The Major Pharmas
> couldn't/wouldn't do it, since they'd have to run extensive multi,
> multi-million dollar drug trials to reprove efficacy, cross-license
> drugs from several manufacturers, etc. The issue this solved was that
> many patients in developing countries were having a hard time
> stickinig to complex drug regimens for AIDs treatments. 
> 
> Still wrong, but they provided a benefit.

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.