This week, we were given the opportunity to watch TED talks in class regarding patents lead by our own classmates, Mo and Abbey. The first TED talk was led by Ellen 't Hoen regarding how to save lives by pooling medical patents.
In this TED talk, Ellen begins with a discussion regarding the Wright brothers and how they issued a great deal of patents following their feat of getting an airplane to fly. This feat, in fact, was not the most optimal for aviation as an industry due to the fact that government agencies were organizing the development of military airplanes. The patents had to be made available to all people according to the government, so that everyone could start producing airplanes.
This introduction directly related to the medical patent pool discussion because, as Ellen detailed, antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV (like all life-saving medications) need to be patented. People in undeveloped countries only a few years ago were unable to afford the high costs of drugs like these, while wealthier people in developed countries were able to afford them. Drug cocktail prices dropped from $12,000 to $240, saving countless lives with easier accessibility to drugs.
In this TED talk, Ellen details that the responsibility lies with big pharma and medical companies to help progress society as a whole by making these drugs more accessible.
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