Note that I was commenting on the article from the parent to my comment, not to the one from the OP (which I found much less persuasive, and where the historica

Note that I was commenting on the article from the parent to my comment, not to the one from the OP (which I found much less persuasive, and where the historical focus does seem like a real weakness). Even if a monopoly is the best way to incentivize pharma research, patents aren't the only way to achieve it - even today there is a complex set of mechanisms outside of patents, such as clinical trial data exclusivity for FDA approval.