Yes, it is possible to reformulate a generic but there's only a business model if you can prevent off-label competition (and a compounding pharmacy could also reformulate). This is what I mean by information about a treatment protocol for a repurposed generic / off-patent drug being a public good. What if your new use for the off-patent and or compounded drug was a very effective new treatment or cure for an unmet medical need? This is the real tragedy of the commons. It's not always possible to rely on reformulations, dosage or mode of administration to prevent generic competition, and could actually cause public harm if the patented reformulation of the drug is less safe or effective - see https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-021-00999-0 . And it's possible to fix it with a pay for success or bounty model, as long as we can convince a payer agree to put a price on successful off-patent RCT data (e.g. $10-50k per QALY). However, this hasn't been tried to date.