[EmlynC]

This is a really solid response.

I'm a Pharmacologist and I've worked in a number of Biotechs. I have been part of pricing discussions to value our drugs and your assessment is correct — price discrimination, as in most industries, is based on what a particular market can bear. Factors that influence this are the way that healthcare systems are run (i.e. public healthcare, insurance based), the cost of compliance and competition. I wouldn't say that the industry subsidises poor countries via sales in the developed world, it's more a case of it's better to be paid something rather than be paid nothing. I personally, however, do like the happy side-effect this has for patients in poor countries.

Increased regulation costs more to comply with and that cost of course is born by the consumer. The cost of regulatory compliance also varies on the market you sell to, the US being one of the most expensive. Just as with software or hardware, the price reflects the cost of production and maintaining the product.

Notably with biologics (Insulin, any hormone ...) as opposed to small chemical entity (paracetamol, aspirin etc) is that broadly they are harder to keep in their stable active form. The are heat sensitive, chemically sensitive and have a tendency to stick to themselves. This tends to increase the cost of storage, logistics and compliance. It also means that if you can make a worthwhile biologic it will generally experience less competition.

[vdaniuk]

>happy side-effect this has for patients in poor countries

Sometimes I wonder if some HN comments are being posted from an alternate universe...