It is often claimed, by those against vaccination, that vaccines are
big money makers for drug companies. This is, supposedly, the main
reason drug companies make vaccines. However, the cost of making a new
drug is truly staggering and vaccines are not really the biggest money
makers.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2012/02/10/the-truly-staggering-cost-of-inventing-new-drugs/
"The average drug developed by a major pharmaceutical company costs at least $4 billion, and it can be as much as $11 billion."
Between
1997 and 2011, Merck spent $67 billion on research and development and
got 16 drugs approved. Sanofi spent $63 billion and got 8 drugs
approved. Pfizer spent $108 billion and got 14 drugs approved.
"There
are lots of expenses here. A single clinical trial can cost $100
million at the high end, and the combined cost of manufacturing and
clinical testing for some drugs has added up to $1 billion. But the main
expense is failure. AstraZeneca does badly by this measure because it
has had so few new drugs hit the market. Eli Lilly spent roughly the
same amount on R&D, but got twice as many new medicines approved
over that 15 year period, and so spent just $4.5 billion per drug."
"Right now, fewer than 1 in 10 medicines that start being tested in human clinical trials succeed."
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2011/industries/21/index.html
In 2010, Merck reported $861 million profit, down 98% from 2009.
In 2010, Pfizer reported $8 billion in profit, down 8% from 2009
And what are the most profitable drugs for pharma companies?
http://health.howstuffworks.com/medicine/medication/10-most-profitable-drugs.htm
Not one vaccine in that list.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/43025869/America_s_Top_Selling_Prescription_Drugs
Not a vaccine on that list either.
Vaccines
are NOT the huge moneymakers the antivaxers would like you to believe.
Vaccines are NOT created solely for the purpose of profit. They are far
too expensive to create for that purpose. Don't fall for the antivaxer
BS on this issue. It is not truthful.
