When we all rely on one source of a medicine, the day when it will not be available is bound to come sooner than later. (For example, in my country the doctors played along with their employers and wiped out the competition for a certain brand of Insulin).

To prevet this we need an idea that on the one hand gives incentive to companies to find the cure and research and develop the medicine but on the other hand does not let one group grow extremely rich by holding the rest of the world at ransom.

We would rather see many people well paid, than one or two very rich owners. On the other hand we do not want a communist system where stealing from the rich to give the poor is the norm.

And we would rather have several competing companies basically producing the same medicine, just like for paracetamol we have Acamol and Tylenol and Panadol.

If in the car industry one company would have a patent on all electric engines, we would be forced to buy an electric car from that company. The competition ensures that we can choose from different important and unimportant categories which fit our likings, budget and brainwashed minds following commercial advertisements.

As usual I don't explain myself well, forgetting crucial details that are sitting in the back of my mind, but this time its on purpose so that you my friends can interpret the idea and tell me how it will work. (Or just fishbone it to death, if you are not so friendly).
-- pashute, Nov 28 2021

Article about the price of insulin (from 2016) https://www.statnew...in-prices-generics/
[xaviergisz, Nov 28 2021]

For popular pharmaceuticals this is not a problem. The moment the patent expires there are generic drug manufacturers ready with their cheaper (but identical) version of the drug. There are some additional (legal but somewhat underhanded) barriers such as 'evergreening' companies use to keep the generics out for longer.

The problem is niche pharmaceuticals with only a small number of people suffering from the ailment which the drug treats. There is insufficient incentive for generic manufacturers to make a generic version. This lack of competition and small demand keeps prices high. I can't think of any solutions to this problem except direct government involvement (e.g. subsidies).
-- xaviergisz, Nov 28 2021


Long term Insulin like Tregludek and Lantus are each singular. There is only one source for them. There is one company each that manufactures its brand and kind of medicine and there is no other source for it. It seems that a minor change in the laws would force people to share the manufacturing and not be able to force prices so much more than their real worth. Cancer treatment DNA tests, and biological medicine, are so much more expensive than they would be if there was any type of competition, and the patents are at fault.
-- pashute, Nov 28 2021


Significant changes to patent laws are quite difficult to make; all countries have signed up to international agreements on patents (e.g the TRIPS agreement). To make the changes you would need to either: a) get all countrys to agree to the change, or b) remove your country from the agreement.

A more likely path to change is getting pharmaceutical companies to make their own industry-wide agreements similar to the FRAND agreement which is common in the computer/phone industries.
-- xaviergisz, Nov 28 2021


// To prevet this we need an idea that on the one hand [...] //

Looks like you're asking for an idea rather than sharing an idea, and yours is a question or category ("Distributed Patents"), rather than an answer. As per Halfbakery help page:

"Generally, the more you know (and can explain!) about the technology behind your invention, the more interesting the posting will be."

So, I suggest publishing this as an "Issue" on the http://infinity.family to get ideas about this.
-- Mindey, Nov 28 2021


A distributed patent system is an interesting concept. Bringing together the R and D resources of several companies in some "coopetition" as a result could make all kinds of sense from a healthcare challenge perspective.
-- RayfordSteele, Nov 28 2021


The title I misread conjures an image of a world where there aren't enough patients to go around & doctors have to share them or go without, as a result of my myopic misapprehension regarding the core concept of this idea Sturton was very disappointed by the singular lack of body parts being sent by mail involved.
-- Skewed, Dec 06 2021



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