Pharmaceuticals

1
Pharmaceuticals a recap

• Discuss the view that drugs companies are not
  fully addressing the needs of the worlds poorest
  people.

2
How do pharmaceuticals make their money?

• Branded drugs can be 30x more expensive than
  generic drugs, even though they are the same

3
Research and Development

• Most money is spent on diseases of affluence.
• If a new treatment is developed it is considered
  intellectual property so it is illegal to make
  generic copies for 20 years

4

• Consumers have little choice about which drugs
  they take.
• They take the drugs prescribed by their doctor
• Therefore, the pharmaceutical industry targets
  marketing at doctors
• In the USA, the government is prevented from
  encouraging the use of generic drugs due to legal
  action by the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
  Association

5
DEBATE TIME
Team A Team B


6
Should poorer countries have access to
cheap generic drugs?
7
You have 15 mins to prepare

• Use the cards to formulate your arguments
• Use web resources to gain useful stats to back up
  your arguments
• Use your own knowledge and understanding to
  counter argue against the other team.
• You will have 2 min to speak and then 1 min to
  respond to arguments

8
NO YES
Unless controlled, the generic drugs business will inevitably undermine research and development into new drugs Millions die each year from preventable, treatable diseases. It is immoral to deny them access to the cheapest drugs
The problem is poverty not the high cost of patented drugs. Most poor nations cannot even afford the cost of generic drugs Poor nations should not have to foot the bill for research and development into drugs aimed at richer nations
The drugs industry is a commercial business not a charity. If we were to subsidise the poor, the taxpayer would foot the bill. Allowing poorer countries to undercut patent medicine prices will have minimal effect on the profits of the drugs industry