4 ms·

Often gets down to profit sadly and if a company is unable to copyright or patent such technology due to prior art, then the incentives as a company are not the

by Zenst 5y ago

Often gets down to profit sadly and if a company is unable to copyright or patent such technology due to prior art, then the incentives as a company are not there. Sad I know, but the whole drug industry is primarily based around making money first. Which however coldhearted that sounds, is how business works. This is all something touched upon recently here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30007863 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30007863

refurb 5y ago
It’s more efficient and cheaper mass produce antibiotics that work on most infections than customize a phage for each patient.
- Zenst 5y ago
  This has been a blessing and a curse, hence their overuse. Which has seen a diminished effect, leading us towards a stage that we are running out of antibiotics that work. Hence an increase in bacteria that has (due to excessive exposure), become antibiotic-resistant. Whilst this has been known for a long time, its an area of concern. [EDIT typo]
rsynnott 5y ago
I think this is less about profit, and more about the fact that it just really wasn't that interesting from the invention of antibiotics until antibiotic resistance showed up. By and large, there isn't that much profit in antibiotics these days; almost everything used in significant quantities is well out of patent.
OneLeggedCat 5y ago
Too true, unfortunately. Also, sick patients are more profitable than cured ones. Preventative medicine is less profitable than treating a developed disease, etc etc etc. The profit incentives in health care are perverse and misaligned, and in many cases delaying healing is more profitable than healing. This is why we need more world-wide government funding of research in curing and preventing diseases. If hypothetically a mixture of apple juice and turpentine were to cure COVID, we may never discover that, because 1) such a mixture would be extremely cheap and easy to make at home, and not really patentable, and therefore unprofitable, and 2) there may never be enough government medical research funding to discover it.

by Zenst 5y ago

refurb 5y ago

It’s more efficient and cheaper mass produce antibiotics that work on most infections than customize a phage for each patient.

Zenst 5y ago
This has been a blessing and a curse, hence their overuse. Which has seen a diminished effect, leading us towards a stage that we are running out of antibiotics that work. Hence an increase in bacteria that has (due to excessive exposure), become antibiotic-resistant. Whilst this has been known for a long time, its an area of concern. [EDIT typo]

rsynnott 5y ago

I think this is less about profit, and more about the fact that it just really wasn't that interesting from the invention of antibiotics until antibiotic resistance showed up. By and large, there isn't that much profit in antibiotics these days; almost everything used in significant quantities is well out of patent.

OneLeggedCat 5y ago

Too true, unfortunately. Also, sick patients are more profitable than cured ones. Preventative medicine is less profitable than treating a developed disease, etc etc etc. The profit incentives in health care are perverse and misaligned, and in many cases delaying healing is more profitable than healing. This is why we need more world-wide government funding of research in curing and preventing diseases. If hypothetically a mixture of apple juice and turpentine were to cure COVID, we may never discover that, because 1) such a mixture would be extremely cheap and easy to make at home, and not really patentable, and therefore unprofitable, and 2) there may never be enough government medical research funding to discover it.