How Can Taxpayer-Funded Science Yield Drugs That Are Innovative and Affordable?
Many pharmaceutical breakthroughs can be traced to government-funded science. Sometimes this research ends up generating hugely profitable products for the companies that get the drugs to market, as was the case with a cure for hepatitis C and the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines. The route from taxpayer-funded research to market approval can be long, uncertain, and expensive, and corporations justify undertaking this risk with hopes of gaining large rewards. But that means treatments can be expensive and, consequently, inaccessible to some patients. In their article for Issues, Travis Whitfill and Mariana Mazzucato argue for incentives that promote efforts to create value, rather than extract it. “Well-crafted government investment policies could help bolster the creation of accessible products that improve health and well-being,” they write, “rather than simply channeling returns toward shareholders.”
What changes to the current system can encourage effective therapies while improving the public good? Are there lessons from history that could produce new approaches? Join John LaMattina, Mariana Mazzucato, Bhaven Sampat, and Travis Whitfill to discuss ways to balance trade-offs, stimulate innovation, and meet the needs of patients, in a conversation moderated by Anna Maria Barry-Jester.
Watch the Recording
Panelists
- John LaMattina, senior partner, PureTech Health; former head of research and development, Pfizer
- Mariana Mazzucato, professor, University of College London; founding director, UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
- Bhaven Sampat, professor, Arizona State University, School for the Future of Innovation in Society
- Travis Whitfill, chief operating officer, Azitra
- Moderated by Anna Maria Barry-Jester, reporter, ProPublica