Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Big Pharma and research

I love it when they say that the pharmaceuticals are so expensive in the US because the companies need this money to finance research. In reality, if you look at a typical big pharma income statement, you will discover that only ~20% of its expenses are research - the rest is mostly sales and marketing.

But here's another proof beyond any reasonable doubt that what big pharma is all about is sales - its donations to political parties. Researchers giving money to repubs? Basically, the same people who say that Earth is 10,000 years old, and dinosaurs walked the planet alongside people, radiocarbon dating be damned?

This political contributions profile is more in line with what you expect from used car salespeople than the research and development organizations...

http://www.goodguide.com/contributions#sector=Pharmaceuticals



By comparison, here's how the software sector looks like:

http://www.goodguide.com/contributions#sector=Computer/Internet&sort=total&query=

2 comments:

DzembuGaijin said...

Yes, it is fun to walk with dinosaurs when you have your drugs and your trusty Dell computer :-)

Serban said...

Well, if you actually go to the site showing those contributions and hover your mouse over each of the said pharma companies, you see they do in fact contribute to both parties. The *ratio* is 2/1 Republican vs. Dem, however it is not like Republicans: X megabucks, Democrats: zip.

I personally don't care for either party, but I must say I am skeptical of sweeping assertions stating that "beyond any reasonable doubt" those who contribute to Republican causes must be all fitting the stereotypical Bible thumper. I would more likely chalk those contributions to the fact that Republicans have been in power for the past 8 years and thus they seeked the most bang for the buck. Just watch the figures by the end of 2011...

On the other hand, it's your own blog so you can post whatever *you* like; and I respect that. It's that a while ago I saw your skepticism working when you questioned some law of economics as the true baloney that it was, so I was surprised to see this.

Regards,
Serban