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[FiveNotions]

http://www.nbcnews.c...atments-n167871


At least four vaccines are being developed to protect people against Ebola, including one that protects monkeys completely against the deadly virus. Several groups are also working on treatments, but one of the most promising is stuck in safety testing.

They might be farther along if not for one problem: money.

Even though Ebola is burning out of control in West Africa, it’s not a huge potential market for a large pharmaceutical company to sink its teeth — and its assets — into developing. That leaves the U.S. government and small, niche biopharmaceutical companies.

“I don’t see why anybody except the U.S. government would get involved in developing these kinds of countermeasures,” said Dr. Sina Bavari of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Frederick, Maryland. “There is no market in it.”

[brzghoff]

i can understand that this is frustrating. i also abhor big pharma's exploitation of personality traits and other "anomalies" as a mental disease and the conditions and syndromes that are born in the marketing dept in order to sell a drug to treat it. that being said...

 

drugs are expensive to develop and test. drug companies are not non-profit organizations. they exist to bring shareholders a return on their investment. the fact that society may benefit is a byproduct <sigh>. however, they will never admit that. by and large americans subsidize the cost of those same drugs sold in other nations because unlike the US, other nations cap the amount a drug company can charge. if the US did likewise, many of those drugs would no longer be manufactured. if there was a quick and easy way to research, develop and produce an ebola vaccine, i suspect some drug company would look into their heart and get it done. however, look at how much money has poured into research to develop and AIDS vaccine - and there is still none. "In 2009, the world invested approximately $868 million inHIV vaccine research and development to develop and test HIV vaccine candidates and to carry out the policy and advocacy work to lay the foundation for their development" http://www.chvi-icvv...ca/faq-eng.html 

 

the one incentive drug companies have to develop drugs for which there is virtually no market is the orphan drug act financed, of course, by US taxpayers. http://en.wikipedia....rug_Act_of_1983  i have no problem with my tax dollars being invested in the development of drugs and vaccines to eradicate deadly disease

 

we can't legislate altruism - if big pharma is forced to contribute to an effort that would cost them shares, they will close up shop. the government can't hold a (metaphorical) gun to their head. 

 

i hope these links work