When you give an exclusive licence to one organization or institution or company, that gives them the sole rights to be able to exploit that licence. What happens then is that you get into a situation of monopoly. With the system we have now, that's usually with a patent attached to it. They last for 20 years, and then you get extensions, through what Mr. Lobb was talking about, and it can go on and on and on.
When we give a non-exclusive licence, that enables other companies to come in and be able to compete, or other institutions to come in and be able to compete, if there are found to be uses of the end product from that research that are very important for the Canadian population and for the international population. In fact, going to those 81 alternative models of R and D, they could also benefit.
For instance, let's say I'm a company and I get a non-exclusive licence for an end product of a hepatitis C drug that I want to sell for $1,000 a pill in the U.S. and Canada. However, they also need that drug in India and so on, and I don't want to produce it. Someone else can then come in and produce it at a price. They can use the information I have and they can fill it.
For me, then, it's something that could really benefit everyone. It's about making a jigsaw puzzle. This is where Jason's idea comes in around the collaboration and the way all these pieces fit together. For me, that's why non-exclusive licensing would absolutely open up the possibility of affordable and accessible medicines.