When the latest Intel or AMD GigaWOW computer chip is introduced, it is too expensive for all but the most demanding customers. But, over time, the price of the GigaWOW drops to the point where almost everyone can afford it.
It’s the same with medicines. The newest AIDS drug, for instance, is going to be expensive—that’s obvious to anyone with a passing acquaintance with economics—since the costs of R&D and development are staggering ($800 million per approved drug at last estimate).
The problem, of course, is that no one wants to pay $800 million for that first pill. Everyone wants to buy the 2nd pill for a dollar.
That’s one of the reasons why patent protection is necessary for high-risk industries such as pharmaceuticals. No sane company would invest $800 million developing a new drug if a competitor could simply await its release, copy it, and then sell it for a dollar a pill.
I know this, and you know this, but the World Health Organization (WHO) isn’t so sure. In fact, in just a few weeks, the WHO is going to meet in Geneva to discuss the results of a series of discussions on the relationship between patents and public health, and things aren’t looking good for patents.
In fact, the process has excluded real-world perspectives on the necessity of patents. Representatives from industry have been shut out of discussions, which have been largely dominated by anti-capitalist activists and those who seek to blame the pharmaceutical industry for the fact that poverty-ridden countries with corrupt governments and almost no health infrastructure find it hard to get the newest and latest medicines to their people.
It’s worth having a discussion about why underdeveloped countries don’t have adequate access to medicines, including why even generic products that cost pennies a dose are out of reach of far too many patients around the world. And there are no doubt some constructive things that can be done to address this problem. Like rich governments providing financial support for the drugs (old and new) needed by underdeveloped countries.
But to blame patents is to miss the point. Worse, to weaken support for patents will inevitably result in less risk-taking, less-innovation, and fewer new drugs and therapies. And that will help no one.