4 ms·
> I guess they already tried to find out the antibiotics properties of honey/garlic and it didn't help much in real scenarios. Speaking more generally, there i
by w1ntermute 13y ago
> I guess they already tried to find out the antibiotics properties of honey/garlic and it didn't help much in real scenarios.
Speaking more generally, there is limited interest from big pharma in the use of natural or herbal products because they will have to spend a ton of money on clinical trials to prove effectiveness, but they won't get the patent protection necessary to recoup the cost of R&D, like they would with synthetic drugs.
- robotresearcher 13y agoThey just change one atom in the big ole organic molecule that doesn't change the effectiveness, and boom: new and patentable drug.
- textminer 13y agoPresumably you'd then have many more possible patentable, innocuously "different" molecule patterns, ruining the competitive edge.
- pstuart 13y agoI've dreamed about doing an app for crowd-sourced clinical trials. Obviously something like this wouldn't have the level of control as having participants under direct supervision, but it could be close to free if done right.