Making Drugs More Affordable: A Proposal

October 15, 2021

The pharmaceutical firm Merck reportedly plans to charge Americans more than $700 for a new COVID-19 drug that costs less than $18 to produce and whose development the US government partly subsidized. Bhaven N. Sampat saw it coming. In reviewing in Issues how drug discovery and pricing have evolved, he observes that “the current system succeeds at getting taxpayer-funded research developed and commercialized, but fails at making drugs affordable.” As an alternative approach, he suggests government might fund not only basic research but also the necessary development work, including clinical trials, then disseminate the results at cost.

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