Antiviral Molnupiravir Reduces Risk of Hospitalization/Death by ~50 Percent
Some interesting points on the nature of our pharmaceutical patent system... (and while the cohort in this study does seem a bit small, the conclusions appear to be fairly valid):<p>> "Molnupiravir was invented at Drug Innovations at Emory (DRIVE), LLC, a not-for-profit biotechnology company wholly owned by Emory University, and is being developed by Merck & Co., Inc. in collaboration with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics."<p>> "In fiscal year 2019, more than half of Emory's total $689.1 million in research funding came from the federal government, the university's largest sponsor."<p>Clearly, this patent should be assigned to the federal government, not to Merck, and anyone who wants to manufacture and distribute it should be able to do so under an non-exclusive federal licensing program.  The transfer of intellectual property created by the public funds to private entities is simply a criminal ripoff of the taxpayer.<p>[edit] Wait, was this a three-week clinical phase III trial? Seems massively expedited relative to other phase III trials?<p>> "Phase 3: Just 33% of drugs make it past Phase 2 and into Phase 3, which tests the potential treatment in the largest number of people. This phase measures both safety and effectiveness with many volunteers, sometimes thousands. Phase 3 trials last from one to four years."<p>Trial began on Sept 2 2021 apparently?<p>1. <a href="https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/news/merck-ridgeback-molnupiravir-trial/" rel="nofollow">https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/news/merck-ridgeback-mol...</a>