[Ip-health] Prizes for Innovation of New Medicines and Vaccines, Annals of Health Law, Vol. 18, No 2

[James Love]

This is new paper I wrote with Tim Hubbard, which describes the newer
thinking on innovation prizes.  It was originally written as a
memorandum for the Obama administration transition team.  Jamie

2009. James Love and Tim Hubbard, "Prizes for Innovation of New
Medicines and Vaccines," Annals of Health Law, Vol. 18, No 2, pages
155-186, Summer.
http://keionline.org/sites/default/files/prizes_new_medicines_annals_healthlaw.pdf

The paper examines four approaches to implementing innovation inducement
prizes, each going further in transforming the system to reward
innovation:

1. The first option is to retain almost everything about the current
system, but to replace the exclusive rights to make or sell a product,
following approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with mega
cash prizes that are linked to the impact of the product on health care
outcomes.

2. The second option builds on the first, but allocates a portion of the
prize money to non-affiliated and non-remunerated parties whose open and
freely-licensed research, data, materials, know-how or technologies were
instrumental in the success of the final product.

3. The third option builds on option two by setting aside some of the
money for investments and prizes that would be made in the translational
or early phases of development, to be managed by competitive
intermediaries, who will be resourced on the basis of their measurable
and objective contributions to products that actually succeed.

4. The fourth option would eliminate patent thickets by removing the
exclusive right to use inventions in upstream research in favor of a
system that gives the freedom to use inventions so long as the patent
owners receive remuneration.

--
James Love, Director, Knowledge Ecology International
http://www.keionline.org | mailto:james.love at keionline.org
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