The Covid vaccine will benefit humanity – we should all own the patent | Owen Jones

The pharmaceutical industry has long made exorbitant profits by free-riding on research carried out by the public sector

Hooray for Pfizer! As news of a vaccine potentially offering 90% protection against Covid-19 offers a life raft for lockdown-weary humanity, perhaps those home-drawn posters on people's windows thanking the NHS will soon be applauding big pharma instead.

The hope of a successful vaccine to liberate us from protracted economic misery should be embraced - but we should be sparing with the bunting for the pharmaceutical industry. If you want a particularly egregious case study of socialism for the rich", or of private businesses dependent on public sector research and innovation to make colossal profits, look no further than big pharma.