4 ms·
They were deployed on a large scale in the Soviet Union. They're not patentable, so it's difficult for private companies to make money out of them. Phage th
by DonaldFisk 8y ago
They were deployed on a large scale in the Soviet Union. They're not patentable, so it's difficult for private companies to make money out of them. Phage therapy could still be developed by a government-owned and run health service.
- ceejayoz 8y agoWhy wouldn't phage therapy be patentable? A quick Google reveals a number of them.
- WalterSear 8y agoConstant evolution.
- tim333 8y agoThe phages are found in nature so you cant really patent them. Using them to treat patients has been done for a century or so so it's hard to patent that. The FDA could help by letting anyone provide phage therapy without further testing given it's been proven over the decades and is pretty harmless to humans. At the moment I think you'd be blocked by regulations, unnecessary ones in my opinion.
- DonaldFisk 8y agoBecause they're natural organisms. You can't patent them any more than you could patent a breed of dog. You might be able to patent genetically engineered ones, or a novel process involving them.
- acjohnson55 8y agoIt's unclear to me whether this is something a normal person would have access to, in the same way as antibiotics. Maybe it is, but I'm just not assuming this to be the case.