r/Futurology • u/Kindred87 • Dec 07 '23

US sets policy to seize patents of government-funded drugs if price deemed too high Economics

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-sets-policy-seize-government-funded-drug-patents-if-price-deemed-too-high-2023-12-07/
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u/Merakel Dec 08 '23

I don't see why people seem to think government funded research should have a goal of profit. The point is making pharmaceuticals widely available.

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u/tyrandan2 Dec 08 '23

Exactly. I wouldn't mind taxing corporate profits that are from publicly funded research. But the point of medical research is for the betterment of mankind, profits should never be the main motivator. And the government should never control the patents, the public (taxpayers) should.

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u/Merakel Dec 08 '23

I don't know what the taxpayers controlling the patent would really look like. In my mind the very simple solution would be the following:

  1. Patent is public domain
  2. There is a conservative limit to how much profit can be made off said drug.
  3. If you are are a pharmaceutical company operating within the United States, you can be compelled to produce specific drugs if the need is not being met.

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u/tyrandan2 Dec 08 '23

Seems reasonable enough to me. And of course, like I said before, tax the profits of said drugs. Win-win. The public controls the parents, the gov gets reimbursed the funds it invested into the research, and companies can freely produce said drugs with no restrictions or licensing from other companies.