I just want to explore the universe but without FTL spaceships I would need to stay alive for a very long time

:deeper-sadness:

  • Vampire [any]
    ·
    3 years ago

    The "elites only" narrative makes no sense.

    Firstly, biomedically it's not possible to develop a treatment with just one subject or a few.

    Secondly, commercially it makes no sense to severely limit your market. When cars, the internet, televisions, planes, were invented, they weren't limited to the elite; they were launched to a mass market.

    • EmmaGoldman [she/her, comrade/them]M
      ·
      3 years ago

      Zolgensma, a gene therapy drug that treats the most common genetic cause of infant and child death, costs $2.1 million dollars for a dose. The disease in question affects 1 in 10,000 babies.

      Zokinvy costs it's users around $86,000 per month, and it's used to reduce death risk in those with progeria, which affects around 1 in 18 million.

      You can absolutely launch a drug only affordable to the billionaire class, or targeted at an incredibly tiny population. Whatever the market will bear, right?

    • UlyssesT [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      3 years ago

      It sort of is, actually.

      There is no single subject or a few for insulin, but have you seen the price of it in the United States versus what it actually costs to make?

      Human lifespans are already strangled down by life-preserving medicine and healthcare being priced out of the reach of the working class.