I See Your Problem

This Wall Street Journal headline, "The World Needs New Antibiotics. The Problem Is, No One Can Make Them Profitably," explains the problem with the profit driven healthcare system in 14 words.

You see, if you get a treatment for something like chronic psoriasis, you have a customer for life, but for antibiotics, it's about a month and then the person is cured.

There is no money curing people:

The push for antibiotics to fight fast-evolving superbugs is snagging on a broken business model.

Six startups have won Food and Drug Administration approval for new antibiotics since 2017. All have filed for bankruptcy, been acquired or are shutting down. About 80% of the 300 scientists who worked at the companies have abandoned antibiotic development, according to Kevin Outterson, executive director of CARB-X, a government-funded group promoting research in the field.

“These companies are supposed to be the winners, but every one of them is an unhappy story,” Outterson said.

The reason, the companies say: They couldn’t sell their lifesaving products because the system that produces drugs for cancer and Alzheimer’s disease—which counts on companies selling enough of a new treatment or charging a high enough price to reward investors and make a profit—isn’t working for antibiotics.

So, there is not enough opportunity for looting, more accurately rent seeking, for the masters of the universe in finance to show interest.

Let's look at:

………

Nabriva Therapeutics terminated its 60 remaining employees this year and is seeking a buyer, four years after the FDA approved its antibiotic Xenleta for pneumonia. Nabriva priced a five-day treatment of Xenleta at over $1,000. Generic antibiotics to treat people who develop pneumonia outside of hospitals typically cost under $100. Fewer than 100 of the 800 hospitals Nabriva approached bought it.

“It was all driven by cost,” Nabriva’s former Chief Executive Officer Ted Schroeder said. 

This is compared to the (not particularly effective) Alzheimer's drug lequembi, which costs over $1,500.00 a month for the rest of the patient's life.

No problem funding that.

Am I the only one who thinks the priorities of the Best Healthcare System in the World™ are seriously f%$#ed up?