Pharma generates nearly half its global sales from the 5% of the world’s population who live in the US.
Annual revenues to Pharma per resident:
Why such a difference?
It is because:
It is argued that absent the high prices charged by pharma in the US market, global pharma would be a fraction of its current size and research & development (“R&D”) into new drugs would be stunted, compared to today’s levels. That is right – the world has much to thank the US for.
This is all about priorities, and the priority question may be, for the US: Social Security pensions/Medicare for retirees as promised OR continued pharma largesse/great R&D: pick one.
(or in the real world: find a middle ground)
Crunchicrant feels there is a better way that the whole pharmaceutical game can be played: society needs there to be R&D and drug testing and approvals, and resource should be lavished on those activities (extravagant fortunes made by successful researchers): manufacture and distribution – these are ordinary, low risk low return, activities. One place pharma has let society down (Purdue, Cephalon, Insys) is that distribution plays too important a role in its success.
Are we coddling far more corporate bulk than we need to? A project for Crunchicrant’s future.
(The status quo suits the industry just fine. Pharma is one of the heaviest lobbiers in Washington DC, spending nearly $1 per US resident per year – but look at the table at the head of this page. How cheap it is, to subvert the interests of the American people!)
