Eradicating Hepatitis C With BioTerrorism

Presented at DEF CON 32 (2024), Aug. 9, 2024, 4 p.m. (45 minutes).

A quarter of a million people die from Hepatitis C every year. Fifty million people are currently infected, and a million more are infected each year. But for the first time in history there is a cure (not just a treatment) for a virus, and it is for Hepatitis C. Take one 400mg pill of Sofosbuvir every day for twelve weeks, and you will be free of the virus. The catch? Those pills are one thousand US dollars apiece because the molecule is the "Intellectual Property" of Gilead Pharmaceuticals, and they refuse to share. So if you have $84,000 USD, Hep C is not your problem. But for everyone else, The Four Thieves Vinegar Collective has developed a way to make the entire course of treatment for $300 USD. This methodology also applies to other diseases. Like any science, the method of manufacture of drugs can be replicated, and we are going to give you all the necessary tools and show you the process top-to-bottom. Watch it happen live, participate, and learn to do it yourself: Use our digital research assistant to help you navigate the scientific literature, feed your medicine of choice into ChemHacktica to get a chemical synthesis pathway, put that procedure into the Recipe Press to generate code for the new version of the MicroLab to run, and watch the medicine form in the reaction chamber. Finally come on stage, press some tablets, and make your own thousand-dollar pill for four dollars in materials. The feds say saving a life this way is bioterrorism. We say: So Be It.

Presenters:

  • Mixæl Swan Laufer - Chief Spokesperson at Four Thieves Vinegar Collective
    Mixæl Swan Laufer worked in mathematics and high energy physics until he decided to use his background in science to tackle problems of global health and human rights. He now is the chief spokesperson for the Four Thieves Vinegar Collective which works to make it possible for people to manufacture their own medications and medical devices at home by creating public access to tools, ideas, and information.

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