Labour's newly announced policy on research funding for new medicines raises big questions about the balance between private profit and public good. The party wants to make big drug companies hand over their exclusive research details so medicines can be made and sold more cheaply by others.
Should major drug companies have the right to benefit from their research investment through exclusive rights to sell new products over a decade or more?
Or should the government have the right to over-ride that when certain potentially life-changing medicines are deemed too expensive for NHS patients?