Regulating the pharmaceutical industry is challenging because we need to balance its benefits and potential harm. We want companies to innovate without compromising safety and prioritize patients over profits. There is a need to prevent gaming the system and ensure timely access to safe medications.
For decades, drugmakers have argued that patents are critical to bringing new drugs to the market. But in 2004, when a promising H.I.V. treatment emerged, Gilead Sciences decided to slow-walk its release to maximize profit on the company’s existing patents.
Rebecca Robbins, who covers the pharmaceutical industry for The Times, discusses one man’s case and how patents can create perverse incentives to delay new and better drugs.
Guest: Rebecca Robbins, a business reporter covering the pharmaceutical industry for The New York Times.
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