Psychedelics: from fungi and plants to patents
In the past few years there has been a burgeoning interest in the use of psychedelics for the treatment of unmet medical needs in mental health.
Globally, the psychedelics drugs market was estimated to be valued at roughly $5 billion in 2020 and is projected to grow to about $11 billion by 2027.
Accompanying the efforts to commercialise psychedelic technologies has been a steady increase in patent filings as companies and universities seek to protect their investment and maximise commercial opportunities. This article addresses patent issues related to psychedelics.
Background
At the outset, it’s helpful to understand some technical and historical features of psychedelics. The term psychedelics is loosely applied to compounds that are defined based on their pharmacological profiles. Most psychedelic compounds function as serotonin 5-HT2A receptor agonists, although the precise mechanism of action leading to psychoactive effects is not fully understood.
Even medical dictionaries acknowledge this lack of a rigorous definition. “Stedman’s Medical Dictionary” defines psychedelic as: “Pertaining to a ‘rather imprecise’ category of drugs with mainly central nervous system action, and with effects said to be the expansion or heightening of consciousness, eg, lysergic acid diethyl amide (LSD), hashish, mescaline, and psilocybin.”
Psychedelics have diverse chemical structures, falling generally within three families: tryptamines, phenethylamines, or lysergamides. Many psychedelics, including psilocybin, mescaline, ayahuasca, and ibogaine are derived from fungal and plant sources. Others, such as LSD and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), were chemically synthesised in conventional pharmaceutical research programmes.
