Economics: Big Pharma - From Villain To Hero?

 (Drivebycuriosity) - Not long ago Big Pharma was the pariah. The big pharma corporations were criticized for selling drugs that were way too expensive and were accused of benefiting from the opioid crisis. But these days we need urgently their help - against the COVID-19 pandemic. And they are urgently working on it.

The Wall Street Journal reports "no fewer than 30 Big Pharma and small biotech firms are racing for treatments and vaccines. Moderna turned around a vaccine batch in just 42 days. Gilead Sciences is already in Phase 3 trials for its remdesivir treatment for Covid-19.  Straight off President Trump’s announcement of FDA approval for antimalarial drugs to treat the disease, Bayer announced it would donate three million chloroquine tablets" (  marginalrevolution).

It is an open question if and when they will succeed.  But 30 Big Pharma plus small biotech firms is an impressive number. And they are working hard & fast - brute-force. Something positive should come out - soon.

If Big Pharma delivers the weapons against COVID-19 some politicians might complain that they want too much money for that. What is it worth to save the life of hundreds of thousands, or at least to spare them an enormous amount of agony? And to save the economy as well.

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