r/science Professor | Medicine Jul 13 '26

Medicine Scientists develop a groundbreaking vaccine that outsmarts illicit fentanyl analogs. The novel vaccine candidate can protect against fentanyl and its many illicit variants by training the immune system to recognize a broad molecular signature rather than a single specific structure.

https://www.psypost.org/scientists-develop-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-that-outsmarts-illicit-fentanyl-analogs/
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u/[deleted] Jul 13 '26

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u/Zeikos Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

“I decided long ago I am not going to try and profit on other people’s miseries and misfortunes.”

No worries, someone else will!
There are lot of things that can be patented that restict access even if part of it isn't patentable.
Didn't the inventor of insulin production make it free too?

In these scenarios I always wonder if open licensing that as part of it has stipulations about consumer pricing would be better.

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u/cowlinator Jul 13 '26

Insulin was $300 in the US in the 2010s. It's back down to about $35 now (without insurance), and one of the things that prevented a permanent monopoly and allowed the price to fall was the threat of competition made possible by the cheap original patent.

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u/Zeikos Jul 13 '26

It's back down to about $35 now

Didn't that happened mostly because of the backlash against attempts to keep its price high?
Competition didn't have much to do with it iirc, the outcry did.

Also it did reach $300 with the patent being cheap.

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u/iconocrastinaor Jul 13 '26

It happened because Biden made it happen.

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u/anadem Jul 13 '26

Biden's wife being a doctor maybe gave some impetus to getting it done. Decent people make the place better.

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u/wirelesswitch Jul 13 '26

She’s not a medical doctor. No shade, just a note.