> Original research & discovery, that is not of mere academic interest [...]
Lots of major therapies are discovered on the publicly funded research side. Don't conflate that sector of research with "mere academic interest", scientists on the public side are frequently even more motivated to find practical therapies.
Don't conflate that sector of research with "mere academic interest", scientists on the public side are frequently even more motivated to find practical therapies.
If motivation alone were enough for scientists, most diseases would already be cured!
Now, how do I know that? Because, I'm one. Currently, my post-doctoral research is focused on structure guided drug design against HIV and Cancer targets, working closely with industrial groups. Other researchers in the group work on Hepatitis C targets, so I'm familiar with challenges. In the past, I worked at a drug discovery start-up on metabolic disease targets. With over a decade in the field, I guess I might know what I'm talking about :-)
But hey! I'm open to new ideas for improvement. I'll be happy to write more if HNers are interested.
Very cool. I think the patents and funding related problems are largely public policy / IPR legislation related. There are some interesting proposals out there about how to fix the loss of utility caused by the current model. For example, public side could buy patents outright and make them free-to-use.
Lots of major therapies are discovered on the publicly funded research side. Don't conflate that sector of research with "mere academic interest", scientists on the public side are frequently even more motivated to find practical therapies.