[lucysmom]

Fortunately for more rational people, China has not proven it can innovate much of anything, much less something as sophisticated as pharmaceuticals. They may one day be a player in the generic business but they are a very long way from establishing a pipeline of innovation. You and I will not see a Chinese based R&D industry in our lifetime. The infrastructure required to do so is not something the Chinese, or anyone else, will be able to create in the foreseeable future.

And yet impoverished Cuba with 11 million people operating under boycott, holds 400 patents in the biotech field.

I am not advocating Communism as an ideal system to foster creativity, however neither is a system that places so much empathizes on profit that it becomes risk adverse.

The Chinese understand the free market, globalization, and capitalism very well. Anyone who thinks China will not challenge us economically is seriously mistaken.

[Mase]

And yet impoverished Cuba with 11 million people operating under boycott, holds 400 patents in the biotech field.

Do you understand the difference between obtaining a patent and commercializing a product? Anyone can do the former.

however neither is a system that places so much empathizes on profit

Where do you think the money comes from to develop wonder drugs? Deny the profit motive and you deny innovation. In a free economy, the pursuit of profits and serving the people are one in the same. You may as well come out and say that you believe it's their responsibility to the state to produce innovative drugs that save and improve our lives . What was the last life saving drug that came out of the Soviet Union? Do you even grasp why 90-percent of all new drugs are developed here?

that it becomes risk adverse.

Are you trying to assert that the industry is risk averse? Good grief, that's just ludicrous. From post #41:

To develop a new drug is time-consuming, expensive and risky. It takes 12-15 years on average [patent protection normally lasts just 17 years], costs about $500 million, and only one of every 5,000-10,000 new compounds discovered in the laboratory ever makes it to market as a new drug."

About 400 cancer drugs from 178 companies are in clinical trials, according to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association. That is twice the number of drugs in trials for illnesses like Alzheimer's disease and depression and nearly three times as many as for heart attack and stroke.

New Drugs for Cancer Could Soon Flood Market

Yeah, right. They're risk averse.

The Chinese understand the free market, globalization, and capitalism very well. Anyone who thinks China will not challenge us economically is seriously mistaken.

They may challenge us economically but their leadership doesn't understand the free-market or capitalism very well at all. One thing is for sure, it will be a long time before they have what it takes to create and commercialize new classes of drugs.