Biden launches action on "Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big Ag"

Re:Biden launches action on "Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big A... by giantg2 on Sunday July 11, 2021 @06:03PM (#27804826)

Drug companies spend more on marketing than on R&D. Much of the research is done with grants and government money. The vast majority of medical devices use the 510K process for approval, which means they are substantially similar to existing device (to bypass testing).

Sure some protection is necessary. You could make it based on development costs and have much shorter times for things that were cheap to do.

"maybe the problem is the role of money in politics and we should address the root cause. "

There are a lot of problems in politics that should be fixed - rules for thee but not for me (rule of law ignored), basically insider trading, high lifetime pensions, long careers, two party system, media bias/lies, and even problems in the voter base (us v them). Money is an issue, but it's really only good if the constituents are gullible or believe in the ends justifying the means. The real root of all of this is that politicians are a separate class from the rest of us and aren't accountable to anyone unless their transgressions are egregious, and then only sometimes. Rule of law has become a joke.

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Re:Biden launches action on "Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big A... by throwaway5752 on Sunday July 11, 2021 @09:26PM (#27805978)

Drug companies are just similar to software in that regard. They acquire a bunch of companies that do basic R&D and get drug pipelines. Those founders get rich because they have patent protection. Just look at biosimilars for a taste of what might happen without patent protections.

I am more familiar with the 510(k) that most people are. It bypasses some testing, but there is still a fair amount of work. It has nothing to do with R&D expenditures that may or may not be behind an submission.

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Re:Biden launches action on "Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big A... by giantg2 on Sunday July 11, 2021 @09:43PM (#27806075)

510K is faster and cheaper in regards to studies given that it doesn't necessarily require human data nor clinical trials, which can be fairly large costs.

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