Who cares why they're doing it--the point is that their money-making endeavors have the effect of saving lives, while other companies spend tons of capital on things that do not have the effect of saving lives.
And who is out there willing to spend billions developing new drugs while giving them away for free? The patent system certainly isn't stopping those people.
> The patent system certainly isn't stopping those people.
The patent system does prevent people from getting at lower costs. I continue to have hope for countries that invalidate drug patents, and for further methods to be developed to drive down the cost of drug production (so as to reduce the barrier to entry for drug production).
If the patent system doesn't stop the non-profit development of drugs, then the breaking of patents and the pirating of patented drugs should in no way significantly dent pharmaceutical company profits, right?
It's from 2011, a quick search didn't find a more current report:
"After collecting data on indicators, PATH project teams use an online tool to enter results, which are aggregated by phase of development. A team developing a malaria vaccine, for example, reports completion of clinical trials with children in Mozambique. This result is aggregated with data from other teams conducting clinical trials of other products.
Top-level 2011 findings include the following:
PATH had 199 technologies and products in our development pipeline in 2011. Fifty-one products moved forward one or more phases in the pipeline. Six products were registered, three were licensed, and two were prequalified by the World Health Organization.
PATH had activities in 68 developing countries. We trained more than 91,000 people in 2011 and worked on 101 policies, strategies, and guidelines. At the global level, eight guidelines and one strategy supported by PATH’s work were approved by global decision-making bodies. At the national level, 36 policies, strategies, and guidelines supported by PATH’s work were approved.
More than 74.5 million people benefitted from PATH’s work. More than $100 million in funding was mobilized to scale up PATH-championed interventions.
PATH was awarded 83 grants valued at nearly $160 million."
Regarding the Gates Foundation, they don't directly research drugs, but contribute heavily to those working on polio, malaria, and HIV.
And who is out there willing to spend billions developing new drugs while giving them away for free? The patent system certainly isn't stopping those people.