Pharma Blog Watch

The Role of Published Research (Pharma's Cutting Edge)
In his blog, Fred Cohen discusses news that publishers of scientific journals are fighting the trend toward open-access peer-reviewed research in favor of subscription-based access. "Why should pharma get involved in the skirmishes that promise to get nastier as paid-access publishers fight for their survival?"

"There is no doubt that pharmaceutical researchers and marketing strategists rely heavily on the scientific literature to create and sell their products, and they pay dearly for the privilege," he writes. "But I can't imagine that most life-science [companies] are going to complain too loudly. Based on cost considerations alone, pharma should probably sit this fight out."

"The real reason pharma (and related industries) need to get behind open access is that open access will benefit the scientific enterprise generally, by increasing the pace of scientific discoveries," he continues. "A higher pace of discoveries means more fuel for industrial discovery, which means a faster rate of industrial innovations."