3 ms·
> basically impossible to scale up or patent to mass produce like an antibiotic is (perhaps why it hasn't caught on). I think they mean that the profit motive
by leereeves 10y ago
> basically impossible to scale up or patent to mass produce like an antibiotic is (perhaps why it hasn't caught on).
I think they mean that the profit motive of pharma giants is an important part of promoting new treatments.
- DonaldFisk 10y agoThere wouldn't any profit for pharma giants. You can't patent bacteriophage, they're the commonest life form on Earth (if you consider viruses to be a life form), they're extracted from unwanted waste (raw sewage) and they reproduce themselves in bacterial cultures. This is why their use continued in the Soviet Union when they fell out of favour in the West. Profits don't matter under communism.
- BurningFrog 10y agoThe other angle is that regulations (FDA etc) probably make it impossible to legally offer any treatment that doesn't have at least $1B behind it.
- ddingus 10y agoOf course they do, and it's just fine. I'm saying there is sustainable, practical work there. Money to be made. Probably a solid living for lots of people. If I were in a different place, I would consider it.