Questions are being asked why Novartis Gene Therapies is charging the NHS so much to save a child’s life; was it the redundant child proof cap, was it offering it in banana flavour or was it the choice to make the bottle out of Tiffany diamonds? Big pharma admitted they could have lowered the price but that would have meant limiting their shareholders to one just Learjet each.
Crystal Meth dealers have questioned the company’s ethical code. Accusations of price gouging were dismissed by the CEO ,who sent a message from his private island: ‘There are a lot of costs in developing a new drug. Not least of which was the $3.2 billion spent on marketing, to decide what font we should use. Our drug, Zolgensma, can extend life and not just for venture capitalists – the kids benefit as well. We’re definitely not skimming off the top, we’re also skimming off the bottom and middle.’
In the case of Covid development, Governments paid for the research, distribution and underwrote risk, but big pharma did take on the cost of naming their drugs ridiculous names. Novartis said they were hoping to expand out into Covid prevention, with an affordable vaccine selling at $1 for the first dose and $4,577,838 for the second.