One company in particular that is really moving forward because of this disaster is Cleavland BioLabs. They recently started the process of getting their disaster radiation medication called CBLB502 through the FDA, and in order to be able to use this drug in Fukushima the FDA might be fast tracking it through testing. This would allow Cleavland BioLabs to donate and sell their drug in Japan and around the world much faster and cheaper than anticipated greatly increasing the companies profits.
I am not sure how CBLB502 works but I do know it is substantially different from any other medication on the market and works both pre and post exposure to radiation. Traditional radiation medications include lots of iodine in some form and work by having that iodine fill all iodine receptors in the body, most of which are in the thyroid. With all iodine receptors full radioactive iodine-131, one of the most common forms of radiation, can not bind anywhere in the body. If iodine is not taken around radiation or if it is taken for a long sustained period of time it can cause problems in the thyroid. The thyroid is responsible for the regulation of many hormones including ones involved with metabolism and calcium storage and usage.
I would like to know how you feel about companies making profits off of disasters. Is it a win-win out of a bad situation? The companies get money which they can invest in making better products and the people get the medications they need to survive. Or is it just greedy CEO's taking advantage of the mis-fortunate people of Fukushima?
For more information on Cleavland BioLabs please visit:
http://www.cbiolabs.com/
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110314-712174.html
Every disaster comes with some kind of profiteering afterwards. All we can really hope is that the good that comes out of it (getting radiation medicine to people to need it in this case) outweighs any negative impact they introduce.
ReplyDeleteI'm fine with companies making money from a disaster. It's not like they caused the disaster, they have a right to make a profit from it if they can. On that note however, I also believe companies should give back. So for example if this drug was approved the company should donate a fair amount to help out people.
ReplyDeleteI think we need to know more about how this particular medicine works, and whether it would be sold and then used in Japan. My guess is that frightened Californians would be more likely to purchase than the Japanese, and we think it's only Japanese within a 50km radius who would even need something like this anyway. So it seems as if they are preying mostly on people's fears.
ReplyDeleteBut that's a free market for you.