Hacker News Reader

This argument makes sense in the normal course of drug development, but drugs which are financed by the federal government like here (to what extent the tens of millions the government gave amounts to the full cost of R&D I don’t know) should not be allowed to be sold back to the American public above cost. We paid for (a portion) of the R&D already, pharma companies should not be allowed to charge us again.

View on HN

The article states significant costs were borne by Merck and the associated company as the US government (BARDA) declined to fund the development of the drug.

If the drug development had been fully funded by the US government, I’d see a stronger case. Instead, it seems like the funding here is via a pre-purchase agreement at $712 per course. We’ve essentially funded it for poor countries too because the article mentions the drug is being immediately licensed in India as a generic at $12.

How much of the R&D was financed by taxpayers? Seems like it should be a proportional ownership stake, not all or nothing.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com