Berlin. International investments in the medical future are essential to prevent a catastrophe like Corona from happening again.
The Corona pandemic has shown that the economy can solve a problem quickly. Within a year, there were vaccines that helped Virus and to prevent things from getting worse. This is an enormous achievement, as it usually takes an average of ten years to develop and approve a drug. What would have been even better: to be prepared for a pandemic and not let it break out in the first place. This is still a problem.
Economy in Berlin
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Money plays a crucial role: Wherever you can earn something, for example at Diseases like cancer or diabetes 2, a product is offered. But: If it is very unclear whether something is worthwhile, it is not done. This applies to drugs that have a broad effect against viruses and could prevent a pandemic. So far, they do not exist.
Also interesting
The idea of the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovations, Sprind, to accept such fully developed drug Guaranteeing this solves the problem. What is socially desirable is given a private value, and competitive market forces then produce a result.
Learning from Corona: Against political small-state mentality
The concept is an example of long-term Think in economic policy, that is missing. For years, politicians have been struggling from one election period to the next. Sprind also shows that German ideas can compete internationally in the field of economics. To date, Anglo-Saxon institutions have often dominated here.
Björn Hartmann is a business journalist. © Reto Klar | Reto Klar
Everything can fail due to political Petty statehood. Only if many countries join forces can it be guaranteed that enough will be taken and that drug development will be profitable. But one thing is clear: viruses respect neither borders nor ideologies.
