Open and Collaborative Biomedical Research: Theory and Evidence

Although a few commentators have discussed briefly the application of open source-type principles to biomedical research, they have not analyzed carefully how the model is actually being used. In this paper, I draw upon an ongoing, multi-year empirical inquiry into the role of intellectual property in computational biology and associated efforts to evaluate the extent to which the open and collaborative research model may promote socially desirable biomedical innovation ? that is, innovation that produces marginal health benefits in excess of its marginal costs.