# Kodak to make pharmaceuticals **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [July 29, 2020, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680 "2020-07-29T05:12:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/1 "2020-07-29T05:12:29Z")
With help from a $765 million loan from the federal government, Kodak is planning on transforming itself from a photography company into a pharmaceutical company. > **[Coronavirus: Camera firm Kodak turns to drugs to fight virus](https://www.bbc.com/news/business-53563601)** > > The former camera maker moves into drug making and secures a major loan from the US government. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/2 "2020-07-29T12:07:01Z")
Kodak still exists? This should work out well. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/3 "2020-07-29T12:12:46Z")
It says that they will be making ingredients for drugs and they apparently already are. They have experience in mass-producing chemicals. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/4 "2020-07-29T12:20:30Z")
Interesting. I suppose they do have experience in making chemicals. I just haven’t heard the name Kodak for about 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/5 "2020-07-29T12:21:22Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > With help from a $765 million loan from the federal government, Kodak is planning on transforming itself from a photography company into a pharmaceutical company. - Would this be considered a developing story? One that’s worth putting into print? Or should we just let it slide? ---
**Author:** ![RealityCheck71](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitycheck71/32/3493_2.png) [@RealityCheck71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityCheck71)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/6 "2020-07-29T12:23:18Z")
Don’t see how this really has anything to do with coronavirus. Kodak is becoming part of the supply chain for generic drugs with the large scale production apparently to be reached in 3 or 4 years. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/7 "2020-07-29T13:12:38Z")
I shutter to think how many puns this thread will accumulate. ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/8 "2020-07-29T13:53:38Z")
Focus people ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/9 "2020-07-29T14:08:16Z")
The very word Kodak used to be a contemptible slr. Now they get another shot. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/10 "2020-07-29T14:25:44Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I shutter to think how many puns this thread will accumulate. Depends on how much exposure the thread gets. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/11 "2020-07-29T14:25:53Z")
Great! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/12 "2020-07-29T14:29:40Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Interesting. I suppose they do have experience in making chemicals. I just haven’t heard the name Kodak for about 20 years. Oddly enough, the last time I heard/thought about/saw Kodak was…on _[The Apprentice](https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/73137/kodak-signs-on-to-donald-trumps-celebrity-appren.html)_. Makes ya think. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/13 "2020-07-29T14:31:27Z")
Smart move. Big Pharma is a gold mine, and who takes pictures with actual cameras and develops film anymore? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/14 "2020-07-29T14:36:15Z")
Is this an actual loan, or a “loan” as so many of the recent ones were? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/15 "2020-07-29T14:59:35Z")
The last time I saw anything with the Kodak brand, it was an SSD. The prices were insanely cheap, and when i looked up the reviews, they were abysmal. Seems that Kodak has been whoring their name out to anyone who wants to pay for it, and the cheap-junk SSD manufacturer just slapped a “Kodak” brand on their crap. Doesn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy about buying Kodak-brand drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/16 "2020-07-29T16:12:17Z")
This deal might actually make sense. Kodak will not be producing actual drugs, but ingredients for pharmaceutical manufacturers to use in the production of drugs. Film photography is primarily chemistry, between manufacturing the film, producing the chemicals to develop the film, and actual film processing. The Kodak plant in Rochester, NY is huge and mostly idle. Big chunks of it are chemical manufacturing facilities. The Rochester area has a skilled and educated workforce currently underemployed. Regarding the funding mechanism: if the current sources for pharma ingredients is offshore, then using the Defense Production Act is appropriate. The DPA, contrary to popular belief, is not just used in times of crisis. Title III of the DPA is meant to _anticipate_ future shortages: > The Title III program provides the President broad authority to ensure the timely availability of essential domestic industrial resources to support national defense and homeland security requirements through the use of highly tailored economic incentives. Specifically, the program is designed to create, maintain, protect, expand, or restore domestic industrial base capabilities. The program I finished working on earlier this year was funded by a \>$10M grant through DPA Title III. That was an outright grant (with matching funds from my company), not a loan. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/17 "2020-07-29T16:18:08Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > The last time I saw anything with the Kodak brand, it was an SSD. The prices were insanely cheap, and when i looked up the reviews, they were abysmal. Seems that Kodak has been whoring their name out to anyone who wants to pay for it, and the cheap-junk SSD manufacturer just slapped a “Kodak” brand on their crap. Doesn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy about buying Kodak-brand drugs. Kodak has been divesting product lines for much of this century in an effort to stay afloat. For example, the still photography film business was spun off as a UK company called Alaris (owned by the pension fund covering ex-Kodak employees in the UK). All the film and chemicals still carry the Kodak name. Not sure about the SSD cards. I always find it ironic that the company that invented digital photography was done in by others capitalizing on their invention. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/18 "2020-07-29T18:01:36Z")
New future ad: Kodak Ecstasy (MDMA)! For your greatest Kodak Moments! ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/19 "2020-07-29T20:13:39Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Smart move. Big Pharma is a gold mine, and who takes pictures with actual cameras and develops film anymore? > [@](#): > > The fallen giant of the photography industry will make ingredients **used in generic drugs** to help fight the coronavirus. (From the BBC article, my bolding) Big Pharma may (sometimes) be a gold mine, but generic drugs are not. Save for the thankfully rare amoral price-gouging opportunity, generics are a race to the bottom, price wise. Just sayin’. In the longer term, no matter what part of the pharma industry you’re making ingredients for, Kodak will be competing with overseas manufacturers whose costs are much lower. I don’t know if the Defense Production Act offers market protectionism for them - anybody know (@Marvin_the_Martian)? (You’re dead right about cameras, of course). j ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680/20 "2020-07-29T21:21:39Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Doesn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy about buying Kodak-brand drugs. Hopefully they remembered how to do chemistry since they spun off Eastman Chemical in 1993. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kodak-to-make-pharmaceuticals/916680.md?page=2)