Earlier quoted context omitted.
“Making a finished solution” is the really, really expensive part. How does the government allocate limited resources in your model?
Either development is the tricky part, in which case it would be irrelevant if the formula is public, since another company won't be able to compete just by knowing the formula, they also have to fund development of their own; or the basic research is the problem, in which case development is a minor expense and should be covered by the sales. Either way, making the results of research that has already been funded by…
> would still leave these companies with plenty of profits.
Development is undertaken with risk capital. “Plenty of profits” is not the bar; the returns must exceed those found elsewhere for the same level of risk. Otherwise new drugs are simply not developed.