Doing well by doing good

Drug approval swaps and megafunds can channel capital towards world’s greatest problems, writes MIT’s Lo

Financial innovation could provide much-needed funding for biomedical research

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In the past decade, financial industry excesses have been cited as the source of many ills afflicting economies and political systems in the West. But, if used responsibly, finance could help provide the cure for some of humanity’s most pressing problems – from cancer to fossil fuel depletion and climate change.

Let’s take an area encompassing the first of those: the development of new medical treatments. The world’s unsolved health puzzles, such as cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, require