What econ doesn't teach is that people are not perfectly rational creatures. Just like we will find people who will write code for free, who will make music for free, there will always be people who are searching for cures for the sake of searching for cures.
I don't buy the argument that only Big Pharma who can deliver cures. As the article pointed out, Gilead didn't develop the cure. They bought the company that did.
No matter how altruistic you are, as a private company you can't put billions of dollars toward a drug that's going to lose money.
>I don't buy the argument that only Big Pharma who can deliver cures. As the article pointed out, Gilead didn't develop the cure. They bought the company that did.
... which they would not have done without the expectation of a profit.
That said, I don't disagree that money is the only motivator. However, good intentions aren't enough to develop a new drug. It takes a hell of a lot of money as well.
If you don't create incentives for private investment, then you need to get that money somewhere else.
We'll get endless varieties of new opioids, blood pressure pills, pecker perkers, and not much else.