The psychedelic renaissance: a case of outlaw user innovation in the pharmaceutical industry
Prometheus – January 01, 2022
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
A psychedelic Renaissance is profoundly transforming drug studies. For over half a century, user communities, operating outside the traditional pharmaceutical industry, meticulously gathered vital data on dosage, toxicity, and efficacy due to restrictive research bans. Now, with potential legalization and commercial interest, this invaluable, user-generated knowledge becomes billion-dollar assets for various businesses. This intellectual transfer, protected by patent law and predicated on reframing psychedelics as therapeutic, highlights complex, ethical issues surrounding user innovation and its commercial exploitation.
Abstract
Psychedelic substances are undergoing a renaissance. As they have been out-of-bounds for public research for half a century, the development process has been driven by drug user communities. With the prospect of a legalization of psychedelics, the data collected by users about toxicity, dosage, etc. have been turned into billion-dollar assets. Know-how stemming from stigmatized user communities is being transferred to companies and put under the protection of patent law. This transfer of information is predicated on psychedelics being reframed as therapeutic. The psychedelic renaissance provides an entry point for reflecting in a more critical vein about ‘user innovation’.