Not profitable to help patients quickly, efficiently and cheaply
-
Goldman Sachs, an American multinational investment bank and financial services company, published the report “The Genome Revolution” in 2019. You can find it here:
On page 20 of that report, they write:
“The potential to deliver “one shot cures” is one of the most attractive aspects of gene therapy, genetically-engineered cell therapy and gene editing. However, such treatments offer a very different outlook with regard to recurring revenue versus chronic therapies, [—]. While this proposition carries tremendous value for patients and society, it could represent a challenge for genome medicine developers looking for sustained cash flow.”
On page 21 they continue illustrating this problem of effective cures versus sustained cash flow with an example of Hepatitis C.
To summarize, if you manage to cure, quickly and efficiently (and maybe even cheaply), a large number of patients, how are you supposed to make any money?
That is the crux – the need to make money.
CNBC picked up on this story:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/11/goldman-asks-is-curing-patients-a-sustainable-business-model.html
And Tom Blue, a professional working with functional medicine, wrote a very poignant and sarcastic letter to thank Goldman Sachs for their honest admission that the age-old adage still holds – money matters!
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/thank-you-goldman-sachs-tom-blue/
As a social scientist, this does not surprise me the least. But if you look at this from a humanist and humane point of view, it is abhorrent.
Log in to reply.