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Negative innovation: when patents are bad for patients

Nature Biotechnology volume 39, pages 914–916 (2021)Cite this article

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Incentives in patent law have driven innovation into spaces that are affirmatively harmful to patients, and patentees are discouraged from taking steps to improve the product so as to prevent adverse health outcomes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank C. Kim for research assistance and S. Hemphill for comments on the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Robin C. Feldman

  2. Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC, USA

    David A. Hyman

  3. University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    W. Nicholson Price II

  4. The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Mark J. Ratain

Authors
  1. Robin C. Feldman
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  2. David A. Hyman
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  3. W. Nicholson Price II
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  4. Mark J. Ratain
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Contributions

All authors contributed extensively to the work presented in the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robin C. Feldman.

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Competing interests

D.A.H. and M.J.R. are directors of the Optimal Cancer Care Alliance. M.J.R. is also a consultant for multiple biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, patent litigation consultant and expert witness on behalf of multiple generic pharmaceutical companies, and a co-inventor on a pending patent for low-dose tocilizumab to treat COVID-19.

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Feldman, R.C., Hyman, D.A., Price, W.N. et al. Negative innovation: when patents are bad for patients. Nat Biotechnol 39, 914–916 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-021-00999-0

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