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Pharma Collective Uses Blockchain to Make Less Profitable Drugs Available to Those Who Suffer
By some estimates, pharmaceutical companies will only waste their time developing a drug if it can be patented and potentially deliver $40 billion in revenue over 20 years (during which the patent is protected). And by "development," we're not just talking about the invention part of a drug's lifecycle. Certain compounds might never get invented because the market for them is too small.
But, there's also the situation where a particular medication is efficacious to a disease the inventor didn't intend. Suppose the market isn't big enough for this so-called "off-label" application of a drug already approved for a different use case. In that case, the inventor is disincentivized from financing the required trials for the drug's additional usage. Without such trials, insurance companies are unlikely to cover the cost of the off-label use, and people are left to suffer. In other words, profitability largely governs what cures are available to sick people and what cures are not.
Enter Pharma Collective.
As one of the organization's founding members, Israel Mirsky, explained to Blockchain Journal editor-in-chief David Berlind, Pharma Collective uses the blockchain idea of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO) to remove profitability as an obstacle to the availability of promising medications. In other words, Pharma Collective is looking to reverse Big Pharma's order of priorities by putting the issue of human health ahead of profitability. During the interview, Mirsky delves into drug shortages, repurposing generic drugs, creating an engine for drug development, and how artificial intelligence impacts the discovery of new compounds and what that means for how those compounds get funded for development.
Key Takeaways
*The pharmaceutical industry has misaligned incentives that prioritize profits over human health, leading to drug shortages and the neglect of specific health needs.
*Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) provide a new approach to incentivize actions that prioritize human health and enable collective decision-making.
* The Pharma Collective is a nonprofit investing DAO focused on enabling human health by subsidizing drug production, repurposing generic drugs, and creating an engine for drug development.
* Blockchain technology and DAOs can potentially revolutionize various industries by removing rent-seeking middlemen and democratizing decision-making.
To watch the video version of this podcast or read its full-text transcript, go to:
https://blockchainjournal.com/interview/pharma-collective-uses-blockchain-make-less-profitable-drugs-available-those-who-suffer
The video can also be watched on Blockchain Journal's YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyLm4u3vRmw
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By Blockchain JournalBy some estimates, pharmaceutical companies will only waste their time developing a drug if it can be patented and potentially deliver $40 billion in revenue over 20 years (during which the patent is protected). And by "development," we're not just talking about the invention part of a drug's lifecycle. Certain compounds might never get invented because the market for them is too small.
But, there's also the situation where a particular medication is efficacious to a disease the inventor didn't intend. Suppose the market isn't big enough for this so-called "off-label" application of a drug already approved for a different use case. In that case, the inventor is disincentivized from financing the required trials for the drug's additional usage. Without such trials, insurance companies are unlikely to cover the cost of the off-label use, and people are left to suffer. In other words, profitability largely governs what cures are available to sick people and what cures are not.
Enter Pharma Collective.
As one of the organization's founding members, Israel Mirsky, explained to Blockchain Journal editor-in-chief David Berlind, Pharma Collective uses the blockchain idea of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO) to remove profitability as an obstacle to the availability of promising medications. In other words, Pharma Collective is looking to reverse Big Pharma's order of priorities by putting the issue of human health ahead of profitability. During the interview, Mirsky delves into drug shortages, repurposing generic drugs, creating an engine for drug development, and how artificial intelligence impacts the discovery of new compounds and what that means for how those compounds get funded for development.
Key Takeaways
*The pharmaceutical industry has misaligned incentives that prioritize profits over human health, leading to drug shortages and the neglect of specific health needs.
*Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) provide a new approach to incentivize actions that prioritize human health and enable collective decision-making.
* The Pharma Collective is a nonprofit investing DAO focused on enabling human health by subsidizing drug production, repurposing generic drugs, and creating an engine for drug development.
* Blockchain technology and DAOs can potentially revolutionize various industries by removing rent-seeking middlemen and democratizing decision-making.
To watch the video version of this podcast or read its full-text transcript, go to:
https://blockchainjournal.com/interview/pharma-collective-uses-blockchain-make-less-profitable-drugs-available-those-who-suffer
The video can also be watched on Blockchain Journal's YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyLm4u3vRmw