Re:Oxford University breakthrough on global COVID-19 vaccine
by CaptainZapp on Monday November 23, 2020 @02:11PM
(#25190439)
Interesting read. Thank you.
It doesn't really scratch at his integrity though, since it was the institution he worked for that raised the issue.
If he was just a brilliant salesman (apart from a brilliant scientist) we never know.
What is beyond dispute is that his discovery saved (arguably) millions of people from a life in misery.
The organizations who funded the research looked into the viability of a patent and concluded it wouldn't have succeeded.
"the idea of patenting the vaccine had been directly analyzed and the decision was made not to apply for a patent mainly because it would not result in one."[1]
The distinction should also be made that a patent doesn't necessarily affect global distribution. It just gives the rights to license the technology. They could have patented it and then licensed it for free.
[1]https://www.bio.org/blogs/real-reason-why-salk-refused-paten...