Pfizer says it will price Covid treatment Paxlovid at nearly $1,400 for a five-day course, which researchers estimate only costs Pfizer $13 to produce. That's a 10,000%+ markup. Shameful.

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Dr. Lucky Tran :verified: (@luckytran@med-mastodon.com)
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Wasn't COVID research funded by taxpayers under form of grants/emergency funds to pharma companies during the pandemic?

Yes, for vaccine research. I don't know if this specifically was covered. Another thing on the list of things we need to know before we get angry.

Much of the research happened long before COVID--at a loss. There's a reason this miraculous new mDNA vaccine technology appeared out of nowhere just in time for the pandemic: researchers had been working on it for years already, using investments and borrowed money. Government grants just went to finishing the vaccine and scaling up so quickly it was kinda mindboggling. They didn't just get to stuff the cash in their pockets.