Psychedelics are a step away from becoming prescription medicines. Companies are flooding in to capitalize on what could become a $100B market, backed by a massive onrush of investment, and accompanied by a deluge of patent filings.
With innovation in mental healthcare stagnant for decades, and the need for new therapies more urgent than ever, surely turning psychedelics into patented pharmaceuticals will be a force for good? Or will it instead entrench existing inequalities, and lead to immense profit for a few, while stifling further innovation and leaving the neediest patients unable to access important and lifesaving treatments?
Will the mainstreaming of psychedelics simply repeat old mistakes, or will it be an opportunity to reimagine—and psychedelicize—the medicines system itself?