Big, evil drug companies.
Posted on 02/14/2009 1:27:47 PM PST by GOP_Lady
GlaxoSmithKline PLC, the world's second-biggest drug maker by sales, plans to cut prices in the world's poorest countries and invest 20% of its profit from those markets into building health clinics and other infrastructure.
In a speech at Harvard Medical School on Friday, Glaxo Chief Executive Andrew Witty also proposed that drug companies, nonprofit groups and others donate their patents related to neglected tropical diseases to a common pool, with the hope that such a pool would speed development of new drugs.
"Society expects us to do more in addressing these issues. To be frank, I agree," Mr. Witty said, according to his prepared remarks. "We have the capacity to do more, and we can do more."
Mr. Witty said Glaxo will cut prices on its patented medicines in the poorest 50 countries in the world so that they are no higher than 25% of the price in developed countries.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Big, evil drug companies.
We’ll this is the plan to try to show to the world that they care, and do it before the govt dictates them too. A pre-emptive move to stave off obama dictates on all health insurance derivative businesses.
Walmart cuts prescription drug prices to $4, doing far more to help people than the federal drug prescription program. Go figure.
Actually this is nothing new they were doing this when my father was a pharmaceutical salesman for Wyeth inthe 60’s.
Who would has imagined that.
You are easily disgusted it seems. Quite weak in fact.
Who would has imagined that.
Who would has axed what be that yo.
They will raise prices for us so they can sell them to the rest of the world cheaper. Just as Walmart will raise prices on other things to allow them to sell the drugs cheaper. Neither is doing it out of the goodness of their hearts nor are they cutting their profits. Business needs to make a profit. Often, therefore, when one price goes down, another goes up.
Mr. Witty said Glaxo will cut prices on its patented medicines in the poorest 50 countries in the world so that they are no higher than 25% of the price in developed countries.
Oh, great. Who has been telling him what the American public expects, Arianna Huffington? Who has been writing his business plan, George Soros? The American public gets to subsidize the rest of the world's medical care.
Thanks a bunch.
But will raise prices in the US & other developed countries to pay for that decrease.
Well, here’s the deal. If I have to pay more for my medicine so that somebody in another country can get it at under cost, then I will ask for a competing product instead. Socialism has no place in this world.
This is a great arbitrage opportunity! I will buy the medicine at $0.25 on the dollar, ship the medicine to developed countries and double my price!
I can double my investment, and undercut Glaxo by 50%!
Bingo. Anyone else noticing pharmaceutical companies are about the only ones advertising on TV these days (where the $$$$ are). Don't know about your doctors, but mine choose the brand of medicine they prescribe for me (and generic is what many insurance companies and Medicare require.)
Big pharma have BIG investments, many of them, not pharmaceutical in nature. So much for their pleading they need to charge us big bucks so they can do research. The pills are made in China for pennies on the dollar with almost no big pharma supervision awhile they are laying off researchers.
Pfizer for one, divested itself of it's interest in Coty cosmetics some years back and then Specialty Minerals, Inc. so as to keep their slate more in line with pharma. Health insurance carriers play the same games and we all know what health insurance costs us. Guessing they do it in the name of diversity, i.e. diversifying their stock options. (sarc.)
Interesting post. Perhaps because Pfizer gave the world Viagra, they feel supremely entitled to stick it to us.
They expand their production capacity and lower per-unit overhead costs through economies-of-scale. Selling products at cost for this purpose is not a new business concept.
Spinning it as philanthropy is probably not new either.
They should be sued for discrimination.
Why should some 3rd world dufus fet medicine any cheaper than me!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.