BusinessWeek said it best a couple of years ago. That helped Merck get the lifesaving drug off the production line just 15 months after breaking ground, nine months ahead of schedule. You won't find a column measuring that kind of dedication and resourcefulness on any kind of balance sheet. But that's just the first part. We also recognize that the extraordinary medical breakthroughs of this century have created medicines and vaccines for many life-threatening diseases.
Many therapies are off-patent and inexpensive.
Yet millions still suffer from illnesses that are preventable or treatable - because of lack of access. So, secondly, the partnerships that we have been creating are helping to create a health care infrastructure that will allow medicines to be delivered in the future. They can create markets for our medicines, even if they are at lower prices that reflect the needs of developing nations. They can pre-empt other approaches that are destructive to innovation, such as the weakening of intellectual property rights through compulsory licensing. Doing away with patents will not provide patients with medicines.