The Economic and Public Health Imperatives Around Making Potential Coronavirus Disease–2019 Treatments Available and Affordable
Abstract
Estimates of the global economic costs of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vary from $77 billion to as high as $2.7 trillion.1 As of this writing, there have been over 4.3 million infections and 300 000 deaths globally. There is currently no cure for patients with COVID-19, but there are more than 300 different trials launched to discover a drug that would minimize both morbidity and mortality.2 Although the availability of a proven treatment for COVID-19 would be met with extreme enthusiasm, the successful testing of any drug will only be the first step in determining how to provide access on a global level. Any treatment must be widely available and affordable to address this global pandemic.
Given the magnitude and pace of the worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus, it is important to preemptively develop strategies for making a treatment available affordably, rapidly, and at scale. Appropriate strategies could avoid delays and inefficient policy decisions and ensure that stakeholders are incentivized to develop and roll out effective products. Organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust, and Mastercard have already committed $125 million not only to accelerate the development of a COVID-19 therapeutic, but also to accelerate manufacturing and distribution of any such treatment. As stated by Bill Gates, any treatment for COVID-19 must be “available and affordable for people who are at the heart of the outbreak and in greatest need. Not only is such distribution the right thing to do, it’s also the right strategy for short-circuiting transmission and preventing future pandemics.”3
Authors
Steven Forsythe Joshua Cohen Peter Neumann Stefano M. Bertozzi Anthony Kinghorn
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