Daraprim is out of patent. He didn&#x27;t buy a monopoly right, he just bought a drug that nobody else thought was worth making.<p>Anyway, the distinction between inventing the drug and buying the patent is an artificial one. <i>If</i> you&#x27;re going to allow creating monopoly rights--and that you can debate--then making the rights tradable will make the market more efficient.<p>With drugs in particular, acquisition of promising drug candidates is a major input to the pipeline at the big drug companies. It enables separation of concerns: small startups to develop the drugs and big experienced companies to bring them to market. Creating an artificial distinction between inventors and acquirers precludes that efficient division of labor.