Now Ben often characterised large pharma as “evil” – maybe he is being somewhat ironic in using that term. Of course the aren’t “evil” as such – ammoral may be a better way of putting it. They are commercial concerns and work within a regulatory environment. I also don’t think it’s sensible to do down the interests of shareholders – for the most part these are major instruments by which our savings and pensions get invested, not to mention tax revenues for the Government. As the current financial crisis shows, once commercial concerns fail to generate profits and wealth, then it has a huge impact on public finances and the ability to spend money on services.

Now I realise that independent researchers would like access to this data as well as commercial organisations, but it is important to realise that health research does not live in some bubble isolated from the world of commerce. The two are heavily interlinked, and a disinsentive to invest to the private sector could have huge impacts, both in research and in both public and private finance. I know this goes against the grain of academic freedoms and free sharing of data, but people’s welfare also depend on the effective working of an economy, not just the drugs and treatments. We had better be aware of the consequences of what some propose in this area to at least try and take into account the potential behavioural differences.