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Most basic scientific research is done at public universities financed by federal grants from the NIH, NSF, etc. U.S. Bayh-Dole law allows universities to excl

Most basic scientific research is done at public universities financed by federal grants from the NIH, NSF, etc. U.S. Bayh-Dole law allows universities to exclusively license this taxpayer-financed research (it's a complete ripoff of the public). For example, in the pharmaceutical world, basic drug discoveries made at universities are transferred to large corporations who typically finance further clinical drug trials, before getting approval and marketing the drug. Note also, this creates pressure to push the new patented expensive drugs, even if much cheaper out-of-patent drugs work just as well. Also, a lot of industrial R&D is about improving in-house processes. This kind of research may or may not produce 'intellectual property' but it tends to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Ideas are cheap, don't let the monopolists corral them all and prevent independent technologies from flourishing.

whatever1 5y ago
The whole pharma industry relies on IP and patent law. No generic drug company is putting money for RnD, they just try to minimize production costs. It’s the companies who rely on the protections of the law for exclusivity that put the money for rnd and take the risk. Pharmaceutical production costs are close to zero. It’s the funding of a research pipeline that mostly fails that concentrates all of the costs. If Pfizer spent 10 years on research and clinical trials of a new drug, and I can the next day of the FDA approval produce a generic derivative of their drug, I will drive them out of business. My costs are essentially 0. And no, not all innovation has been produced by universities.
- photochemsyn 5y ago
  The vast majority of basic research that leads to patented drug development is done n the public dime, so it should belong to the public.
  - whatever1 5y ago
    That is trivialization of the RnD required even after you have prediscovered a potent molecule. After that you need additional 6-10 years of development work & clinical trials (which btw have very high probability of failure) for which neither universities nor generic drug companies want to pay.

whatever1 5y ago

The whole pharma industry relies on IP and patent law. No generic drug company is putting money for RnD, they just try to minimize production costs. It’s the companies who rely on the protections of the law for exclusivity that put the money for rnd and take the risk. Pharmaceutical production costs are close to zero. It’s the funding of a research pipeline that mostly fails that concentrates all of the costs. If Pfizer spent 10 years on research and clinical trials of a new drug, and I can the next day of the FDA approval produce a generic derivative of their drug, I will drive them out of business. My costs are essentially 0. And no, not all innovation has been produced by universities.

photochemsyn 5y ago
The vast majority of basic research that leads to patented drug development is done n the public dime, so it should belong to the public.
- whatever1 5y ago
  That is trivialization of the RnD required even after you have prediscovered a potent molecule. After that you need additional 6-10 years of development work & clinical trials (which btw have very high probability of failure) for which neither universities nor generic drug companies want to pay.