The Ebola Vaccine: How Drugs Can Be Developed Without Patents

For those who find it difficult to understand how drugs can be developed without patent protection, the Canadian government has an answer. It paid for the development of an Ebola vaccine. While the vaccine was reportedly 100 percent effective in tests with lab animals, the government did not pay for the testing in humans that would be necessary to market the drugs.

This provides a good example where a government agency was able to finance effective research. (There are many others.)  Unl...