A question about drug comapnies?

Hi,
I recently remember a case when a gentle men in england penetrated the computing infastructures of the fbi and nasa and some other high level agencies. Then i thought to myself is it possible or has it ever happened,If anyone has ever penetarted the computing infastructures of major drug companies to see what there really up to or if they have finally uncovered any miracle cures.

My experience was that the computer networks in pharm. companies are more secure and more protected than most government agencies...

It'd be extremely unlikely for any company to keep all the files on one drug (for example) in one directory. There are so many departments involved with drug research to begin with.

Knowing how they work though, it'd be virtually impossible for your average hacker to understand the millions of computer files...let alone actually be able to find information on "miracle cures".

Unless he was hired by someone who did understand...

As for what they're really up to...drug research

As stated above, I doubt that if there were supressed cures, they would be in anyform easily accessable nor in a language that your avererage non-research scientist would understand. Big Pharma companies are more worried about a rival looting thier information to tweak a drug so they can market it than they are about hacking (They worry about that too mind you)

well i guess your correct.I sometimes get that feeling that these things happen about hiding possible cures .I mean theres more money in treatment rather than cures right? I guess i have developed this jaded sense of thinking recently in which govt dont give a dman about us.where just numbers. we live we die who cares.-(maybe i need to chill out)

Originally posted by tarzan
well i guess your correct.I sometimes get that feeling that these things happen about hiding possible cures .I mean theres more money in treatment rather than cures right? I guess i have developed this jaded sense of thinking recently in which govt dont give a dman about us.where just numbers. we live we die who cares.-(maybe i need to chill out)

Perhaps, yeah...

But a dead person can't spend thousands on preventative or maintenance healthcare...

And the pharmaceutical industry isn't just US-based. Around the world, different nations have different rules about fair pricing. In England (as an example), every person is entitled to subsidized (read: free) healthcare, regardless of their condition or financial status...which does somewhat affect how much the drug companies can charge for a certain drug; this could in turn mean that the drug companies would actually benefit from discovering a cure, as they wouldn't be eating up the cost of constant preventative medicine.

Again, I can't help but think that...a dead person is one less person who's able to spend money on preventative/maintenance healthcare. Yanno?

That said I'm fairly sure that drug companies do charge through the roof in too many cases. In fact, I do know this to be true, having worked with a few of 'em in the past.

I just don't think they're generally in the habit of hiding magic bullets like that.

[edit on 3-9-2005 by Tinkleflower]