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Why government not focusing to provide cheap generic medicine
3 answers
The pharma company takes the risk to development new medicines. This is costly as they have to hire expert scientists and not all ideas lead to products. For this governments offer them patent protection for a certain number of years, where it is not allowed by competitors to release generic medicine, based on reverse engineering. If this temporary protection would not be allowed, pharma companies lose the motivation to invent, and required new medicine will not be available.
On the other hand, certain diseases may affect more low income groups. Here exist the risk that pharma industries will not invest the required resources to invent efficient medicine. Here governments, including United Nations, have to become active.
On Foreign Monopolistic Tendencies
Domestic private companies leave the generic drug business because of low margins. Soon, few to none exist. Then, government supported public companies as in China, swoop in with exorbitant prices.
This is happening now with commonly used penicillin, doxy-cycline and heparin. Not too difficult to understand.
65 months ago
Lack of political will, narrow profits for generics.
In the Philippines there is the Generic Law that is implemented and even large pharmaceuticals produce generic medicines