I agree that the pharmaceutical industry spends a lot researching drugs. And so does the government eg [1]. In the situation of an imaginary future where paten

I agree that the pharmaceutical industry spends a lot researching drugs. And so does the government eg [1]. In the situation of an imaginary future where patents are scrapped, pharmaceutical companies will be unlikely to continue to invest in the current fashion. I took GP to suggest that this would be an issue. I was trying to make the point that tax payers through something like NIH grants would be to take up the slack. Making the research available patent free so that generics can be manufactured. Obviously this wouldn't be a simple transition and incredibly unlikely. But its an interesting intellectual exercise to think about. [1](https://www.statnews.com/2018/02/12/nih-funding-drug-development/ https://www.statnews.com/2018/02/12/nih-funding-drug-develop...)