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Remix the commons is happy to publish From Big Pharma to the Commons. A short analytical guidebook to pharmaceutical product economics, the English translation of the book from Gaëlle Krikorian (Des Big Pharma aux communs. Petit vademecum critique de l’économie des produits pharmaceutiques).
Originally published in French in 2022 (Lux éditeur), it is now available in English and can be downloaded free of charge (pdf or epub) after filling in the form at this link.
If there had been any uncertainty around this before, the COVID-19 pandemic has since demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that the current economic model under which pharmaceutical products are produced is no longer fit for purpose. If we do not change it, fewer and fewer people will be able to access medical innovations – in rich and poor countries alike.
However, we can still change the path we are on and avoid the economic triage of medicines becoming ever more commonplace. If we are to do this, we first need to understand exactly where the current imbalanced system is going wrong and where it is open to abuse. Then we can suggest other ways of producing and distributing the products our lives depend on.
What symptoms are currently affecting the medicinal product economy? What diagnoses can we make based on these issues? What treatment can we administer to this wayward system? This concise handbook outlines the evidence that our current economic model for pharmaceuticals needs a thorough rethink.
Gaëlle Krikorian holds a doctorate in Sociology from the EHESS and alternates between research, political consulting and involvement in civil society organisations. After many years spent campaigning within the ACT UP movement, she went on to be an advisor for the Greens at the European Parliament in Brussels, and a policy director for the MSF Access Campaign.
From Big Pharma to the Commons. A short analytical guidebook to pharmaceutical product economics is an eponymous and modified version of the book published by Lux Éditeur in 2022. The translation was made by Jamie Lees thanks to the support of Remix the Commons and is published under a “public licence” from Creative Commons – CC BY-NC-ND.