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Good afternoon, readers.
How should the drug patent system work?
Biopharma executives, unsurprisingly, tend to emphasize the importance of innovation—and regularly argue that strong intellectual property protections are essential to the project of advancing human medicine.
Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg is taking a different tact, proposing that any new branded pharmaceutical drug should only be able to win one patent.
That would be a massive transformation for the industry if it were to go through. It’s something we need to keep our eyes on.
Read on for the day’s news.
Sy Mukherjee
sayak.mukherjee@fortune.com
@the_sy_guy
DIGITAL HEALTH
The scapegoat. We still don't know how this virus (the coronovirus, that is) progresses. It's a complicated procedure. Any vaccine will take months, if not years, to develop. I wish I had more to add, but the reality is: We just don't know what is going on.
REQUIRED READING
How Bank of America's CEO Orchestrated One of the Biggest Comebacks in Baking History, by Shawn Tully
Why 2020 Is Turning Out to Be a Strong Year for IPOs, by Lucinda Shen
Melinda Gates and her $50 Million Donation, by Maria Aspan
