“Optimism About a Speedy Coronavirus Vaccine Is Misplaced” By Henry I. Miller, courtesy of the Mercatus Center As the outbreak of the novel coronavirus continues to gain momentum in the United States, there is intense interest in the development of a vaccine. Several US drugmakers have begun working on a vaccine, independently […]
Tag: R&D
No Time to Undermine R&D Partnerships
The outcome of the world’s response to COVID-19 depends largely on the success of longstanding research and development (R&D) partnerships between public and private sector institutions, including national governments, universities, and pharmaceutical companies. So it’s crucial that governments resist the impulse to undermine these relationships by adopting policies inimical to private sector research […]
EU Green Deal: Avoid emissions whackamole
“Financing Europe’s Green Deal: Beware of the Waterbed Effect” By Daniel Gros and Milan Elkerbout, courtesy of CEPS Big numbers are always a good way to attract attention. 1 thousand billion euros of investment is the headline figure of the ‘Sustainable Europe Investment Plan’ the European Commission recently presented to the European Parliament. […]
Trade Barriers Kill Innovation
Creating medicine is a complex and expensive business. While U.S. biopharmaceutical companies lead the world in drug development, international trade practices can stem the flow of innovation to new markets, depriving patients in need. Limited market penetration also means fewer resources to re-invest in the most successful engine for life-saving advancements on […]
True Innovators Need Secure Patents for R&D
By James Edwards, Ph.D, Conservatives for Property Rights Remember how early mobile phones routinely dropped calls? Mobile devices today operate on better technology. The innovative system, called “code division multiple access,” supplanted an approach the telecommunications industry was considering as the underpinning for wireless communication. CDMA more efficiently uses airwaves to handle […]
Importing Bad Ideas: Let’s Not
“Foreign reference pricing” is just price controls by the backdoor The world is full of bad ideas that self-interested parties sometimes try to bring to these shores, swearing up and down they’re actually good: karaoke, kale, Neti pots, the Yugo, the Macarena, Gerard Depardieu — the list goes on. To this hall of shame must […]
SE Asian countries need to focus on knowledge economy
A global crossroads boasting young, tech-savvy populations and far-flung trade connections, Southeast Asia is well positioned to become an economic hub. But to do this national governments must first lay the groundwork by embracing policies designed to foster innovation and the knowledge economy, […]
Hey Congress, drug price controls are still a bad idea
Bad ideas have a way of sticking around , but fortunately there’s a home for them called Congress. The recently proposed legislation on drug prices is firmly in this category, relying on what are in effect government-imposed price controls, backed by the threat of […]
Protecting IP is critical to the fight against disease
With the world confronting daunting new health challenges, the UN is emphasizing the need to achieve true universal healthcare. That’s a laudable goal worth supporting — but the same can’t be said for the UN and other global organizations frequent support for measures that jeopardize […]
How to improve access to medicines — and how NOT to
With the UN General Assembly convening in New York to discuss all manner of policy issues, one high-profile area of debate is the appropriate role of governments and regulators in ensuring that as many people as possible have access to the medicines they need. […]