Who says it would (or might be) just a few people?
Given the nature of humans, and this disease's ability to spread so rapidly throughout a population, it could be thousands -- even hundreds of thousands infected. In a large country (or cluster of countries), it could be millions. Especially if Ebola mutates, and develops the ability to go airborne.
Drug makers would be wise to at least quickly study what it would take for them to get this drug into rapid production.
I wasn’t speaking of any particular disease, I was speaking to the universe of all disease, and then gave one hypothetical example to try to simplify what I was saying.
To repeat-the market will determine what a manufacturer will do. There is a certain volume that will give them a break even point. There is a certain volume that will give them the profit margin they want. They will produce what is profitable.
With this particular drug, solutions are being tested and worked on. It appears that powerful interests are pushing forward with ZMapp, and trying to get it into the market place sooner rather than later.
If you were a company that had already invested tons of money in ZMapp and your company had that patent, and could make tons of money on it, that’s a powerful reason to prefer ZMapp.
If a generic drug already exists that may be more effective, or just as effective, then your investment in ZMapp is in danger of becoming water down the drain, depending on the price differential.
Now if you test the generic and find out for sure it’s a better treatment, ethically the generic drug should be produced, but your profit on it may not be enough to cover what you have already spent on ZMapp, and you have just made your company very liable, if you ignore research in favor of the generic.
Some other company that doesn’t have a vested interest in ZMapp, may very well pick up on this generic drug and do something with it, since the volume is anticipated to pick up.
Then, there’s going to lobbyists and politicians receiving money from both companies in an effort to get the most favorable treatment for their respective products.
At any rate, as I agreed with you before, the market will determine what the company does and what drugs are produced, but may be mitigated by whatever political and regulatory agencies do that may have an impact.