Business models for information commons in the pharmaceutical industry

Abstract

The pharmaceutical industry needs new modes of innovation. The industry's innovation system - based on massive investments in R&D protected by intellectual property rights - has worked well for many years, providing incentives for pharmaceutical firms to invest in developing drugs across a wide variety of major medical needs. However, this traditional drug development process is subject to decreasing productivity and increasing costs. In addition, it encourages pharmaceutical firms to focus on "blockbuster" drugs, and to neglect meeting needs in small potential markets such as "orphan" diseases and diseases primarily found in third world countries. This thesis focuses on new modes of innovation, specifically the sharing of safety information prior to clinical trials. To inform this analysis, I first discuss the data that informs why the industry is in need of new modes of innovation. I then proceed to outline the potential promise of some new modes of pharmaceutical development that are emerging. I then explore a specific novel innovation mode in more detail: the sharing of non-competitive safety information prior to clinical trials, leading to significant reductions in both costs and chances of failure in drug discovery and development. I propose that this new innovation mode offers the potential of significant benefit to both drug developers and medical patients.