[rayiner]

The more you turn medical research into a noble endeavor with no chance of making money, the more you're going to drive brilliant people to Wall Street and Silicon Valley companies instead.

The company that developed this sold to Gilead for $11 billion (less than a WhatsApp) after 13 years. Why would Gilead even buy the company if they could copy the drug for free? And why spend 13 years building this company with no hope for an exit? Especially when drug development is incredibly risky. For every success like this, there are many companies that fold with nothing to show after burning eight or nine figures of capital.

[fludlight]

Pharmasset lost a total of $325mm during those 13 years before their exit. Then Gilead spent an additional two years and an undisclosed sum bringing it to market.

[undata]

Why would medicine be unlike any other science? Imagine if the standard model was someone's intellectual property.

Owning abstractions is mind-bogglingly absurd, akin to thoughtcrime.