I meant with regard to the ability for anyone to use it without, say, violating patents. Plenty of drugs discovered and developed with NIH money go on to be patented by private companies.
I take your point, but OTOH it's difficult to envision a world where drugs actually get brought to market without patent protection. The amount of money and risk involved is just astronomical.
I'd be happy funding drug development, clinical trials, etc with public funds, as well. I also believe there are opportunities for companies to profit without being given exclusive manufacturing rights via patents.
