Goldman Sachs: ‘Is Curing Patients a Sustainable Business Model?’

Tae Kim, reporting for CNBC:

Goldman Sachs analysts attempted to address a touchy subject for biotech companies, especially those involved in the pioneering “gene therapy” treatment: cures could be bad for business in the long run.

“Is curing patients a sustainable business model?” analysts ask in an April 10 report entitled “The Genome Revolution.”

“The potential to deliver ‘one shot cures’ is one of the most attractive aspects of gene therapy, genetically-engineered cell therapy and gene editing. However, such treatments offer a very different outlook with regard to recurring revenue versus chronic therapies,” analyst Salveen Richter wrote in the note to clients Tuesday. “While this proposition carries tremendous value for patients and society, it could represent a challenge for genome medicine developers looking for sustained cash flow.”

Hard to think of a better example of what is turning capitalism into a dirty word. (Also, this is why we need government-funded research, to make the goal crystal clear: finding a cure, not finding profit.)

★ Friday, 15 February 2019