The current public health crisis is demonstrating how deficiencies in our approach to intellectual property (IP)—a unique set of rights and protections that applies to the creations of the human intellect—and research and development (R&D) imperil the health, safety, and livelihoods of millions of people around the world.

Americans pay extremely high prescription drug prices — nearly double that of other wealthy nations. This creates a financial burden, with 83% of Americans agreeing that prescription costs are “unreasonable.” What’s more, high drug prices impact whether people actually take their medications. 29% of Americans say that in some cases, they can’t afford to take their medication as prescribed.

This paper identifies four harms of this approach, specifically for health equity. It does not consider concerns of accessibility or affordability, defining these as health care, rather than innovation, problems. It limits the range of innovators, and also distorts innovation incentives. Finally, it tolerates harmful, and even biased, innovation.

We can displace corporate power over our health and lives by moving towards a democratic, publicly-owned pharmaceutical sector, designed to respond to public health needs and deliver better health outcomes at lower costs.