No fundamental research; a lot of development, however--stuff that the NIH really is not very good at.
>And how much to they exploit the basic research done at the expense
>of governments and universities?
A lot.
>They're far more interested in tweaking a few atoms to come up with
>Prozac Mark IV than they are in doing anything very bold.
Yep. They follow the money. You want them putting a lot of scientists to work on mood-enhancers, hair-restorers, and wrinkle-removers, then go ahead and keep 'em from making a ton of money on drugs that do real things.
>The moral case for gouging the sick and the old, even in a rich
>country (where the sick and the old aren't likely to be very rich)
>is pretty weak.
The moral case for having a real national health service is very strong. The moral case for diminishing the cost of pharmaceuticals to Medicaid is not...
Brad DeLong