Pretty sure that government could just buy a patent like this at a price that th... | Hacker News

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		clort on Jan 30, 2020 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: New antiviral treatment made from sugar Pretty sure that government could just buy a patent like this at a price that they choose. Some countries might choose to do that, some might not. Also, patents expire after only 21 years. They have patented this molecule now, but they haven't actually got a treatment as yet, meaning that the clock is ticking. I don't know if you can copyright a molecule?

jcranmer on Jan 30, 2020 | [–]

US patent law states that "compositions of matter" (i.e., drug molecules) are patentable.

thaumasiotes on Jan 30, 2020 | | [–]

To be fair, any physical device, like a printing press, is also a "composition of matter".

rrtthu on Jan 30, 2020 | [–]

Isn't there also the mirror molecule thing they can do to imitate patented ones?

montalbano on Jan 30, 2020 | [–]

Not necessarily, see Thalidomide for example:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160208124237.h...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isomer#Medicinal_chemistry

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