4 ms·
I have a family member who used to work in pharmaceutical R&D. I personally know nothing about the industry so maybe it's nonsense, but she once told me that no
by resonious 4y ago
I have a family member who used to work in pharmaceutical R&D. I personally know nothing about the industry so maybe it's nonsense, but she once told me that nobody would make anything in that industry if it wasn't for patents. R&D costs are astronomical. Once you release a drug, it needs high margins in order to make back the R&D costs. But the problem is: once you release your drug it immediately gets reverse engineered and other facilities can mass-produce it and undercut you hard.
Anyway it's likely I misunderstood something there since again I know nothing. But after hearing that, I considered that while software patents are obviously bad, maybe they make some sense in other industries.
- CameronNemo 4y agoPharmaceutical research can be funded with public money (and often already are to some degree). Bounty programs, grants, et cetera. A lot easier to manage those than the obtuse patent bureaucracy.
- nceqs3 4y agoWhy do people comment so confidently on industries they don't understand?
- CameronNemo 4y agoWhy do people jump to defend monopolistic, price-gouging pharmaceutical companies?
- nickff 4y agoThe parent didn’t defend anyone.
- CameronNemo 4y agoYeah because the parent comment had nothing material to say. They basically just told me to shut up for no reason other than "you have no idea what you are talking about (but I do)".
- aesh2Xa1 4y agoWhat don't you like about what the commenter said? Here's support for his comment: https://cepr.net/we-can-develop-new-drugs-without-patent-monopolies-54217/ https://cepr.net/we-can-develop-new-drugs-without-patent-mon... > While drug companies do operate to make a profit, the part of the story that Nisen misses is that the profit does not have to be gained through patent monopolies. Suppose that the U.S. and other governments put up research funding, which private corporations like Gilead could bid on based on their expertise and track record. In this case, a condition of the research is that all patents would be in the public domain (the companies were already paid for their work) and all results would be fully public as soon as practical. The above comes from Dean Baker, who seems to be confident and credentialed. https://cepr.net/staff-member/dean-baker/ https://cepr.net/staff-member/dean-baker/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Baker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Baker
- b3lvedere 4y agoSo help us understand then why this industry could not exist without patents?
- tinus_hn 4y agoBecause the requirements for anything health related are so absurdly high, the investment required to put something on the market is also absurdly high. You can’t make that investment if the next guy can then just go and sell your product for a quarter.
- b3lvedere 4y agoThis still makes me wonder why a government could or should not invest in it.
- croes 4y agoWhy do people in the industry claim nothing would be invented without patents? They don't know a world without such patents and they don't know the people and companies who would do research in such a world. That's a claim like nobody would be a fire fighter if it wasn't a paid job. Guess how reality is really like. What about all the underpaid people in healthcare? By that mindset those people wouldn't exits.
- svc2Hokum 4y agoFigurative understanding and truth is mutable. Society put people on the moon when agency is put to it. Why do people comment about the way society works when clearly agency is monopolized to focus on fiat wealth targets, not real work of value.
- HDThoreaun 4y agoEasy enough to just federally fund a bounty based off qalys saved or something similar. The acts of innovating and manufacturing don't need to be linked.
- _2uwr 4y agoSoftware decompilers are the software industry's reverse engineering problem, so internet services are the solution, like those running from the cloud/data centres. Of course patents also create monopolies and because no one wants to go backwards, monopolies never get challenged or challenged with little consequence so you can hold many country's and their population hostage quite legally.
- ikekkdcjkfke 4y agoThats and actual physical product produced and sold and bought. Why can't the patent system protect only these people?