Why are pharmaceutical companies making so much money?

Question

They are making so much money every year, but they are not making essential medicatications for HIV patients more available and affordable. Aren´t they suppose to care about illnesses, or are they only explotating the sick people?

Answer 1

One of the reasons is that a Pharmaceutical company only receives a 15 year patent for a new drug. That patent is valid from the drugs initial development. It takes roughly 10 -11 year to test the drug (Phase i-iii research) at a cost of literally millions (a typical phase i study costs around $800,000 but can reach over a million). When the drug eventually reaches the market the pharmaceutical companies only have 4 years left on their patent. Thus they have to recoup as much money as possible in that time. After the patent runs out other companies begin generic testing (copies of the original drug) which again lasts around 11 years before the generics hit the market. Thus in total a Pharmacuetical company that develops a new drug has 4 +11 years in which to make money from it before other companies enter the race and drive the price down through competition. That is the reason new drugs are so expensive and drugs like Aspirin or common antibiotics are cheap.

The Pharmacuetical industry is also one of the most highly regulated industries around with regulations for Europe, the US the world that govern testing, manufacture, quality, laboratory standards etc. In order to maintain these standard the industry requires highly trained scientists, legal advisers, project managers, regulatory specialists etc who do not come cheap.

Answer 2

They are making money because that is their purpose. Medications for HIV patients are expensive to develop and produce so they are sold at a high cost. If a company developed a way to make the drugs cheaper they would offer them at a lower price and out sell the competition. They are exploiting sick people no more then companies that make food products exploit the hungry.

Answer 3

The bunch of manufacturers are greedy people. They are list bothered for the patients. There sole goal is $. The main business is money and the subsidiary is the cure for the illness. Many of us treating ourselves without knowing the side effects of the drug. then we consume more drugs to cure the side effects. so the vicious circle goes on. Naturally they are exploiting.

Answer 4

Because Bush passed that medicare bill as a gift to the pharmaceutical companies that contribute to GOP campaigns and helped him get elected.

It prohibits the government from negotiating discounts with drug companies.

The Bush administration duped their fellow GOP Senators into signing this bill as well. The said they would veto it if the ten-year cost estimate was higher than 400 billion, and it came in exactly at 400 billion (wow, surprising). One month later, the ten-year cost estimate was boosted to $534 billion. It was reported that administration officials had concealed the higher estimate and threatened to fire government analyst Richard Foster if he revealed it.

Answer 5

Because the U.S.A. government protects BIG BUSINESS, and caters to their wishes in order to receive bigger re-election coffers.

Answer 6

They exist to exploit the ill.
They make trillions on cancer patients alone.

Answer 7

disease = $$$$$$

there will never be "cures" as much as there will be "treatments" - meds you have to take the rest of your life. that's how they make their money.