STAT Plus: Public funding underwrote much of the development of J&J’s drug for TB, analysis finds
Amid ongoing debate over taxpayer dollars used to generate medicines, a new analysis contends that public investments contributed up to five times more than what Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) spent to develop Sirturo, its groundbreaking drug for tuberculosis.
Public sector funds worth an estimated $455 million to $747 million were used to pay for clinical trials, tax credits, administration of a tax-deductible donation program, and a redeemable regulatory voucher, according to the analysis, published in PLoS One. By comparison, the health care giant was estimated to have invested anywhere from $90 million to $240 million on getting the tuberculosis drug to market.
