The 1% Treaty: Harnessing Greed to Eradicate Disease

Abstract: 6.65k diseases have 0 FDA-approved treatments. At current trial capacity (15 diseases/year), exploring the therapeutic search space takes ~443 years. Redirect 1% of military spending (\$27.2B/year) to pragmatic clinical trials. Trial capacity jumps 12.3x. Search space explored in ~36 years instead of centuries. Average treatment reaches patients 212 years sooner. Timeline shift saves 10.7B deaths, valued at \$84.8 quadrillion. Cost-effectiveness: \$0.0018/DALY, 50.3kx better than bed nets. Even at 1% probability of treaty adoption, risk-adjusted cost-effectiveness remains superior to the best existing global health interventions. Incentive Alignment Bonds address political feasibility by tying legislators' career incentives to a public voting scorecard. Summary: 6.65k diseases have zero FDA-approved treatments; at current trial capacity, exploring them takes ~443 years. Redirecting 1% of military spending scales capacity 12.3x, cutting the timeline to ~36 years and preventing 10.7B deaths. At \$0.0018/DALY, 50.3kx more cost-effective than the best existing interventions. Incentive Alignment Bonds make adoption politically viable.