>Without the work of the scientists who do the basic research, pharma would be unable to do what they do, as they'd have no idea where to even start looking for drugs that work.
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>And, of course, those greedy ruthless pharmaceutical companies would not be smart enough to hire scientists of their own <vbg>. Since they obviously have no idea where to even start looking for drugs that work, it is truly amazing that they are managing to rack up all those obscene profits...

The kind of research I'm talking about is often years and years of studies to understand basic biological processes. The researchers in pharma start where that leaves off.

Sure, the pharma companies could hire folks to do that, but you're talking about a lot of people and a long, long time. It would cut significantly into those profits.

The basic point I've been trying to make is that pharma doesn't do it alone, no more than any kind of manufacturer of engineered things does. They all build on scientific research that's publicly funded (and often funded by universities as well).

Tamar