> No, they acquired Pharmasset, the company that made the cure, for $11.2B. That was a pretty low-risk move. It was already an obvious money maker.

Before I was a software developer I was in equity research, and one of the companies that we covered was Pharmasset. The whole point of these research companies is to find a winner and be acquired.

I get that it's low risk for the acquirer, but without that big payout the research and trials won't get done by the small companies, who won't be able to raise funding, etc.