A drug may prevent Alzheimer’s but there are no plans to find out

[stepan13]

Last week, The Washington Post reported that pharmaceutical firm Pfizer has data showing that an arthritis treatment it owns called Enbrel may also lower the risk of getting Alzheimer’s by 64 percent. But, according to critics, Pfizer has elected not to develop the drug for this condition because the patent on it will soon expire, meaning the company won’t profit from pursuing it further.

newscientist.com/article/22...

[MBAnderson]

Doesn't surprise me none. That's the 3rd CEO in the last 3 weeks that I think needs a little jail time to readjust his attitude.

[TazmanianDevil in reply to MBAnderson]

Why do you expect a company to develop a drug at a loss? There are only a finite limit of resources available to a company for product development. Economics is all about scarcity and one must choose wisely the resources one has to remain in business.

[MBAnderson in reply to TazmanianDevil]

I don't think the story is fundamentally accurate because if a drug is repurposed and FDA approved for a different therapy, it gets a new patent for the new treatment.

Pfizer is the richest drug company on the planet and has been repeatedly fined several hundred million dollars at a time for withholding lifesaving data and/or putting out false data.

Pfizer buys smaller drug companies that are about to come to market with a successful cure and then doesn't bring the drug to market because it would undermine 1 of their ongoing therapies.

In other words, Pfizer makes billions by blocking healthcare that people need.

It is untrue they not make money because, obviously, if other companies can make a profit selling generics, they can too.

Pfizer has withdrawn from neurological drug development because it's complex to find cures and they prefer ongoing therapies.

Governments around the world would spend less money on Alzheimer hospice care if this drugs were repurposed and approved for Alzheimer.

I'd still put the guy in jail anyway -- for sins he's committed that we don't know about.

[Despe in reply to MBAnderson]

It's not healthcare, Marc, it's DESEASE CARE!

[MarionP in reply to MBAnderson]

Called "catch and kill."

[danfitz in reply to TazmanianDevil]

And in some instances companies manufacture scarcity in order to increase profits.

[alexask in reply to MBAnderson]

I think the jail time should be for those price gouging - which is almost all the big pharma in the US. Absolutely astonishing rises in the cost of medicines e.g. insulin. Medical bills is the number 1 cause of bankruptcy in the US. I am stunned that actually the population hasn't risen up and demanded an end to this stuff. But then it is virtually a police state, so I can understand. As for not researching something for which they won't get a profit - well that makes the case for state funding of medical research. But even then with charitable funding we see things like the MJ Fox foundation refusing to do any seriouus research into the effects of B1. So we are left with do your own research, share with online forums and go from there.

[andrehypnotic]

😡