Increasing competition generally lowers prices in a free market. This is a fundamental law of industry and not a novel concept.
How can we promote competition in the drug industry? Two ways:
- Reduce clinical regulation with simple, clear consent forms like tobacco warnings.
- Kill drug patents.
Valid counter-arguments are the first may kill or harm consumers while the second may kill innovation as investors will no longer fund research and development.
Both are reasonable, so how we can mitigate these risks?
Balancing regulation with safety is the key, as regulatory hurdles are what inflate development costs. If we can lower development costs to $100M, $50M, or even less, other industries like gaming and film prove people will fund innovation with less stringent IP protection.
What’s the path forward?
Start small. See if any state or country will accept these risks in exchange for the potential to spur medical innovation and become the Silicon Valley of healthcare.
The key is to guarantee people are 100% aware of the danger like with tobacco. For example, this trial may cause death, blindness, or paralysis.
If astronauts can risk their lives for space exploration and soldiers can risk their lives for national defense, why can’t (fully informed) citizens risk their lives to advance medicine?
