Comment by MichaelZuo 16 hours ago
I’ve seen these comparisons a lot, but how is it determined that the actual quality of a name brand medicine is the same in the two different markets…?
i.e. The price difference could be reflecting a real qualitative difference such as being produced in different facilities, slightly less pure ingredients, less stringent QC, etc…
> We know that these drugs cost roughly $10/dose to produce…
Can you link the source?
If it really is a 600% to 6000% markup then it does seem unlikely they would try to save a few dollars.
yes, most of the costs are A) development and B) relatively fixed costs of maintaining the manufacturing staff and infrastructure.
The marginal cost of an additional batch is relatively small in comparison.
Developing a cheaper to produce product, even if that was done off-book and you could keep it secret, would need some level of different production methods (different ingredients, different machines or something which makes it cheaper) and some amount of testing which just selling the original product doesn't require.
I think these calculations are wildly optimistic. As far as I can tell, they basically ignore the cost of development, labor, quality assurance, and regulatory.
It is like estimating the cost of a rocket based on the price of metal.
It feels very conspiratorial to suggest multinational pharmaceutical companies are creating low quality versions of their own branded drugs in Europe.
We know that these drugs cost roughly $10/dose to produce, and most of that is the auto-injector pens. Hardly seems worth ruining their reputation and getting punished be regulators to save a few dollars on something with a 600-6000% markup.