Edition: U.S. / Global  AIDS, Drugs, Need and Greed  Published:
September 29, 1989  Is there something wrong with the way drugs
are developed? The extortionate price of AIDS drugs suggests a
system with serious faults. Drug companies, far from boldly
accepting high risk for high reward, have to be cajoled with
subsidies and monopolies into taking a chance. Once they hit a
winner, they use their monopoly position to charge sky-high
prices.  That, at least, is the pattern with the two leading
AIDS drugs, AZT and pentamidine. When Washington sought a
company to manufacture pentamidine, used for treating AIDS-
related pneumonia, only one stepped forward, Lyphomed of
Rosemont, Ill. As the sole pioneer, it clearly deserved a
reward. But Lyphomed couldn't resist exploiting its seven-year
exclusive license.  Prices should fall as volume rises. But
Lyphomed introduced pentamidine at $25 a vial in 1984, and
steadily jacked up the price, eventually increasing it to an
extortionate $99.54, even as the number of likely cus