

Make essential drugs affordable for all: Cipla - denzil_correa
http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/make-essential-drugs-affordable-for-all-cipla-114050400290_1.html

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fozzieBoston
Cipla was discussed as a Harvard Business School case in the Corporate
Accountability class this year (I'm a student at the school). It is an
interesting ethical debate - do you allow companies to take patented
technologies, improve processes, and overpass patents? are patents granted in
the US even valid in India? does Cipla hurt or help the drug industry?

It is a long and tough debate, and there is no right answer. However, for
those that think Cipla is all about saving the world, remember that it is a
for-profit company. Furthermore, keep in mind that drug companies use profits
from current drugs to develop future drugs. By reducing their profits now you
reduce their ability to develop life saving drugs in the future. The pharma
model relies on blockbuster drugs, and ~5000 drug developments start for every
blockbuster drug that ends. With those odds, damaging their margins does have
a massive effect on their long term ability.

No right answers here... but it is definitely not as simple as Cipla makes it
to be.

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zo1
" _It is a long and tough debate, and there is no right answer. However, for
those that think Cipla is all about saving the world, remember that it is a
for-profit company._ " Ah yes, the non-profit/for-profit organization fallacy.
Boils down to something like: _Organizations that don 't make profits will
only do good._ Completely disregarding the fact that a lot/most of its
leaders/workers are there working for-profit via a salary, and it's in their
best interest to perpetuate their organization. And also there is an incentive
to not fix the problem the organization is supposed to solve because that will
mean the dissolution of the organization.

Now, don't get me wrong. Some of these organizations do a whole world of good,
have very passionate and dedicated individuals that are probably working for
free, and there are a lot of causes that benefit greatly from their presence.
But let's not fool ourselves into putting non-profit organizations on an
almighty moral pedestal where we claim they can do no wrong. While
simultaneously demonizing organizations that try to make a profit out of
giving people what they want/need.

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fozzieBoston
I do not intend to imply that by being a for-profit company Cipla cannot do
any good _, nor do I argue the reverse. I do argue that Cipla, as a for-
profit, has responsibility to its shareholders first and foremost, and has a
goal of making money. It can, and as we saw does, much good in India, Brazil
and other developing markets.

_ Nike's corporate responsibility over the past several years and its
investment in new technologies and supplier monitoring is a great example of a
for-profit company doing good.

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Retric
For profit does not mean it needs to maximize profit. For example a steady
income may be considered more important than maximizing income. As such a
business may try and sell out an event instead of increasing prices closer to
what the market will support.

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zo1
_" the right to live should not be dependent on the ability to pay"_ Wow, the
rhetoric is strong in this one. Not only is this a catchy statement that will
appeal to the masses, but it's also completely vague and devoid of any
substance. I suppose if a medical treatment cost a few million dollars a pop,
and it has to come out of his paycheck, he'll be very quick to put "buts" and
"exceptions" in his statement.

If people really thought like him, we'd be getting our governments to be
spending huge sums of money on health/healthcare/medical research. But we
don't. So either he's one of the few that think this way, or there is
something else at play.

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rayiner
Governments do spend huge amounts on medical treatment. Medicare/Medicaid/NIH
funding amounts to hundreds of billions per year.

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zo1
Agreed, they already spend a huge sum of money on healthcare. My point was
that they don't spend a "huge" enough amount of money to make "right to live"
possible in all scenarios.

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mhb
Drug Costs and Prices: [http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/the-curious-
wavefunction...](http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/the-curious-
wavefunction/2014/04/24/drug-costs-and-prices-here-we-go-again/)

