The economy

[want_to_believe]

can only agree with bruno . If everybody can copy patents for free than there will be no money for new research ..means no new drugs. And than .

[Collie Entragian]

Sing Air profit has dipped 90%.... 1.5b? I think it's more like 150m in 2001. The 1.5b was in 2000...

[makanaka]

Bruno, WTB.

Haven't touched on patents much in my reply at all. That's another issue which we can go into if you're willing and able.

I was trying to highlight real cost-to-society components.

Bruno I have to point out that the IPRs regime under Gatt/WTO has demonstrably favoured MNCs. Your saying that a new drug compound goes through x trials for y years with an eye on z number of markets in no way exonerates the MNC pharma industry from having profiteered all too often from developing country resources and methods.

I am talking about real societal costs here, not the dressed up figures you see in a balance sheet that is countersigned by Andersen.

[Bruno]

Collie,

No, it was 1.5 in 2001. They operate on a fiscal year. They had 135 in the first half of fiscal 2002.

Matanaka,

Don't really know what you mean by cost to society. I would think that few things are so costly as the inability to treat disease. As for using developing country methods and resources. Again you got me. What methods?