SUMMARY

This article provides an overview of the role of technical information in the development of innovation and incentives for its creation and yet the implications for the biomedical sector. Here we present first the foundation and meaning of the patent system. Second is an analysis of the impact of the patent system. Finally, there is a reflection on the future of the patent system and its relationship with the pharmaceutical industry and biomedical research.
Any patent creates a monopoly that ensures the innovator the exclusive right to use and sell the innovation for a fixed period of years. Monopoly rents during this period are those that will reward his/her initial investment. The market determines the final size of the reward, while the government is capable of reframing its real scope through the pharmaceutical price regulation.
Currently, the debate over patents has increased as long as their cost limits the access of population to certain innovations. In an environment of public financing, changes and alternatives have been proposed, such as grants, innovation awards or patent auctions. These proposals have not become a widespread practice, although there has been a significant progress in the case of innovation awards.

There is a long way between the reform of the patent system and its replacement. The deadlock in the new drugs mass production and the spread of biotechnology have created a new space that remains unsolved as of today. The most controversial current issue concerns what kind of innovations should be protected and how to avoid blocking patents, those that prevent new discoveries.

Pharmaceutical innovation has been instrumental in reducing mortality and improving life quality. Without this innovation, life expectancy would not have increased. But we must also remember that the emphasis on specific therapeutic targets such as cancer has not yielded the expected results despite the allocated resources. The identification of health needs to set priorities on innovation does not necessarily come from the patent and this fact gets more noticeable every day; therefore, new mechanisms to ensure that decisions are properly directed are mandatory.

Advances in the field of genetics and biotechnology are adding new complexity to the mechanism of patents. The role of new drugs and biochips can be a radical change in the way we have known until now the patent system, the role of drug prices and the public funding. Governments will face a new reality in which a limited number of suppliers could contribute significantly to the health of citizens through custom devices. The role of market and competitiveness concerning drugs would thus be completely different from what we have known. While awaiting these developments, we need the patent system to be effective and those necessary improvements and its alternatives not to dilate over time.