5 ms·
Weren’t patents initially created for the pharmaceutical industry? The issue being that research is so prohibitively expensive that if you can’t benefit from be
by yoz-y 7y ago
Weren’t patents initially created for the pharmaceutical industry? The issue being that research is so prohibitively expensive that if you can’t benefit from being first then you are screwed?
Another similar industry is aero space but they mostly work by secrecy. This is not viable in pharma where I believe more transparency is required for safety.
- function_seven 7y agoPatents predate the pharmaceutical industry by a few centuries. Even back then, I doubt the initial motivation for government-issued monopolies was to advance the apothecary industry.
- yxhuvud 7y agoNo, patents was not created for the pharma industry. It is however the industry which would be the most disrupted by a patent abolishment. They would need a new government sponsored model to replace the current one. This to offset the costs that medical trial requirements create, which is the main cost of developing new medicines. If we want safe meds we need to pay for the safety somehow. But that price needn't affect every other industry.
- plmu 7y agoIndeed, and a government regulated system would be much fairer for everyone. In most western societies (the US may be a partial exception) we don't want to see people dying in the streets, therefore there is universal basic healthcare for everyone in every civilized country. Therefore, it would be much better to fund it like, e.g., high energy physics research. Do the research funded by governments, and the pure production of patent-free medicine can be done by the industry who, compete on price at a set and defined quality.