Hear from I-MAK’s Priti Krishtel on how the outdated patent system is the hidden reason that drug prices are so high – along with 5 ways to fix it.
“Two billion people live without access to medicines globally”, says Priti Krishtel, co-founder and director of US-based I-MAK.
She talks about how the number of drug patents have “exploded” in the last few years, yet “we haven’t got drastically more inventive, corporations have got drastically better at gaming the system.”
Krishtel describes how: “The original intention behind the patent system was to motivate people to invent by rewarding them with a time-limited monopoly… Today that intention has been distorted beyond belief.”
The current patent system has resulted in a drug price crisis, one which sees people getting into debt, selling homes, doing everything they can to save their lives, but often the money runs out. “There are many reasons for this crisis. One is the outdated patent system, that America tries to export to the rest of the world,” says Krishtel.
She believes a modern patent system can created, and outlines five steps for doing so. A must watch, neatly summed up in just 12 minutes.
Watch Priti Krishtel’s TEDWomen 2019 Talk.
