Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Politics - Not List Material

(continued)

Developing new drugs is an incredibly expensive & complex program that's for 

sure - and yet for all the good the drugs usually do, the drug companies are 

constantly beat up for their pricing.   Yet IMO they deserve to make a 

profit!  Actually, that's not a IMO kind of thing - that's the cornerstone 

of capitalism - a critical part of business. Successful non govt  business 

at least.

I'd like to see the 10+ year government approval procedure streamlined if 

possible.  I know safety is paramount but I would hope there's a way to 

shorten the cycle.   Usually when large gov't (and often private) 

bureaucratic departments are created they then tend to grow dramatically. 

This is where "Parkinsons Law" comes in.  For those who don't recall it, PL 

is when a employee needs help he requests *2* assistants - because *1* 

assistant might appear to be on equal footing.  But having 2 assistants the 

employee can dole out responsibilities so the original employee remains the 

primary value to the company.  As you can imagine, this leads to competition 

between the 2 new employees.

I guess the MSM has fostered the idea that corporations are evil entities 

that make money and hide it away - well, I suspect the education industry 

plays a part also.  But as I said before - a corp makes money and its 

shareholders end up with that money to live on.  Except for salaries, 

bonuses, R&D, cap and exp, the money goes back to the shareholders - and 

rightly so.

I do have a problem with some bonuses unless they are tied to performance 

for the company/share price.

LarryT

OilAnalysis Time?
Looking for Weber Parts or Porsche Posters?
www.youroil.net

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Martin Stark" <MStark [at] Copper.net>
Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2009 10:48 AM
To: "Larry Turner" <l02turner [at] comcast.net>
Cc: "Ferrari List" <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Politics - Not List Material

What frequently happens when a drug is developed by a biotech company is
that following one or more successful phase 2 trials the biotech will
partner with a pharmo company for the much larger and very expensive
phase 3 trial(s). The biotech gets funding to go forward (and a possible
future royalty) and in return the pharmo gets some degree of market
exclusivity should the drug get to the NDA (new drug application) stage
and be approved.

Erik Nielsen wrote:

When I teach chemical engineering design, the number I use is $880MM
and 15-16 years to bring a drug to market.  Failure rates are in the
90% range.

On Sun, Nov 15, 2009 at 8:59 AM, LarryT <l02turner [at] comcast.net> wrote:

Along those same lines Merck recently commercialized a drug that controls 

a

fungal infection.  World wide there were a couple dozen cases - and many

were fatal.  Merck had scientist and engineers, etc. working on a drug 

for

10+ years.  All of that time and money spent (roughly $120k/ 

scientist/engr

involved for 10 years with no ROI and no guarantee there would ever be a
ROI.  Yet they spent the money and found a drug - because even though the
people affected was incredibly small given the world population those who
needed a cure welcomed their studies and eventual success.

Sure, it was expensive,  but if you owned shares of Merck would you want
them giving money away?  When you rail against a corporation making money
you are really railing against millions of retired teachers, firemen and

clerks who have their retirement income pinned to their mutual funds 

making

money so they can pay a dividend and granny will be able to buy groceries
this week.  When a corporation makes money the investors make money - the
corp keeps some for salaries, R&D, capital and expense but there's no big
account marked Profit.  The profit goes to the investors - something all
anti-business liberals ignore.

LarryT

OilAnalysis Time?
Looking for Weber Parts or Porsche Posters?
www.youroil.net

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Jim Conforti" <lndshrk [at] xmission.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2009 4:52 PM
To: "Larry Turner" <l02turner [at] comcast.net>
Cc: "Ferrari List" <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Politics - Not List Material

Michael James wrote:

Polio wasn't eradicated by Pfizer.  Ever wonder why we have 

half-a-dozen

pills on the market to cure Erectile Dysfunction in this country, but 

no

cure for AIDS?

Let's see - because AIDS - despite the ridiculous amounts of money
spent on it to date - has not been "cured" - by all of the researchers
who search for a "cure".

TENS of BILLIONS of DOLLARS are spent on HIV research annually.

IMNSHO to the detriment of every other medical condition there is.

Sorry - not going to blame "private industry" here.

Or Cancer?

Many types of cancer CAN be cured.  Many cannot.

There is no one CANCER.

Couldn't that private-industry investment

for the development of Viagra have been better-spent on more worthwhile
medical pursuits that better-support the goodness and health of the
greater society?

What gives you the right to tell me where my dollars should go?

Or some company?

That's called THEFT - or INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE.

That aside, your hate for capitalism and the success it brings, shows
loud and clear, COMRADE.

Do you know how Viagra was found?

They weren't looking for PENIS PILLS.

They were researching drugs TO TREAT HYPERTENSION (Blood Pressure),
ANGINA, and Blood Clots - researching a group of drugs called
phosphodiesterase inhibitors.

It was a serendipitous discovery.  They were going to discard it and 

move

onto the next drug when they found out it helped w/ erections.

Voila - now old guys can get it on, and old ladies don't have to cheat
with
the pool boy or gardener anymore... WIN/WIN!

Unlike (for example) the discovery of Zanamivir - aka RELENZA.

Which was designed by computational chemistry (my specialty, btw!) to
be a neuraminidase inhibitor - something that prevents the influenza
virus from replicating via infection of healthy cells.

Both cases of industry spending MONEY to find a cure for a disease.

Guess what - private-industry doesn't give a DAMN

about such things.  Let's not kid ourselves here - this isn't the 1950s
anymore.  Business 'ethics' and 'values' have deteriorated from what
they once were to ONLY THE BOTTOM LINE MATTERS.  Quick, short-term
profits by any means necessary.

Really?

Here we go with the anti-capitalism/pro-socialism fantasies.

Viagra was discovered by accident while researchers were looking for 

real

cures for REAL diseases.  Zanamivir was discovered intentionally as a
cure
for a REAL disease.

Gee, that blows your theories right out of the water, doesn't it 

COMRADE?

As usual.

Suggestion: Quit while you're ahead.
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Re: Politics - Not List Material - Developing New Drugs & Med Devices	<– Date –> <– Thread –>
From: LarryT (l02turnercomcast.net)
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:36:09 -0800 (PST)