Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/08/15/ebola-is-now-a-treatable-disea.html
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I’ve got a hundred negative thoughts about this, but for now I’m casting them aside and just being happy. This could easily save tens of thousands of lives, but in a worst case scenario where the virus got out of hand, it could be way more than that.
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here’s hoping the drug companies don’t just have dollar signs in their eyes.
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It’s very hopeful, but one in ten still die, and even that rate depends on quick treatment soon after infection. In the strife of the Congo, that’s going to be quite a task.
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Its like River Blindness in that the people most likely to be patients are ones least likely to afford the medication. Since it is an extremely deadly and easily spreading plague, it is counter productive to price it out of availability.
I see the treatment as more of a thing Big Pharma will provide at cost as PR moves to offset the next hair loss prevention drug which inadvertently causes impotence or foot cancer.
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Ebola is up there with some of the worst ways to die. Ebola being treatable is a bright light at the end of a very dark tunnel.
Science is truly awesome.
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Great. But how much does it cost? The answer to that will tell you if this is going to work or not, because the countries and areas that are most affected by Ebola need to have these drugs priced as affordable as possible.
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In the world we live in it’s less a question of how much it costs and more a question of which billionaire or multi-national will be have to supplicate ourselves to in exchange for their benevolence. Those old myths of praying to gods were getting us ready for the real world after all.
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Science, bitches.
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cocktail of three monoclonal antibodies
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Or to point to as a huge research loss and humanitarian effort to justify the next 2000% price hike on another life saving medication aimed at more affluent suffering.
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price in Africa and 3rd world, $10 (hopefully)
price in USA, $30,000 because, insurance
ps. always try getting a cash price from pharmacy, hospitals, etc. and then forward the bill to insurance instead, massive price difference
not having access to insurance in this country can be a death sentence if not cause you to make food vs drug choices
ps. oh also, labEspy.com for labtest price comparison if you pay out of pocket
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The research into the cocktail was heavily subsidized by BARDA, so they probably have some conditions as to the price to them. The two scientists at the head of Regeneron transitioned from assistant professor to billionaire in just a few years, so I expect their drug pricing mode has a pretty high profit component.
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Seems relevant here…
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