One-shot treatments and cures for disease are possible but this factor might stop them from being developed.
So, the future looks rosy. Gene analysis is here, and the ability to splice and dice human DNA to make sure a person is born without limiting and deadly diseases seems to be just around the corner.
Illnesses such as cystic fibrosis, breast cancer and leukemia could possibly be a thing of the past.
But will that day actually arrive? A new report put out by the investment bank Goldman Sachs entitled “The Genome Revolution” indicates that reality could turn into something else.
There’s a problem. All this science comes down to money, and well, curing diseases isn’t profitable. The truth is, so-called one-shot cures are particularly bad for long-term profits. Why? Eventually, no one’s left to cure.
Related: Are We Close to a Cure For Cancer?
A good case in point is one analysts have turned to previously- that of curing hepatitis C. Patients with the disease can now purchase treatments made by Gilead Sciences that are highly effective, curing almost 90% of cases. Back in 2015, sales of this treatment soared as high as $12.5 billion.
Since then, however, the number of people suffering from the disease seems to have dropped dramatically. Goldman Sachs is estimating that sales of the cure will only bring in about $4 billion in 2018.
What can we hope for? Here’s to crossing our fingers that investors and companies will find a way to forge ahead, vary their portfolio and work, stay in business and keep finding cures.
Or, maybe Cuba will help us out again, in the end. They do have some particularly stunning scientists at work, at least when it comes to lung cancer.
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