I have trouble believing the patent argument. If folks can patent certain strains of crop seeds, why would they not be able to patent a GMO mushroom or a process for GMO yeast to produce such things?
Would they not be able to profit from the stability of lab-produced drugs? Would the generic market not want to produce these? After all, some of the drug manufacturers produce both brand-name and generic drugs [1].
Regardless of patent, I'm pretty sure some players would happily get into the prescription market. On top of this, I'm going to guess since it seems some of these drugs out-perform the available prescription drugs and is cheaper in the long run, insurance companies and governments alike (since some places have universal care and even the US is invested in some forms of healthcare) stand to profit from having this sort of thing be the first line of treatment when possible.
As I understand it, the problem with drugs that aren't patentable is there is no way for those who pay for clinical testing to re-coup their investment. Phase I-IV clinical testing usually goes well over 100 million USD [1] so drug companies need to recoup that money, if the drug isn't protected under patent, once approved, any manufacturer can produce it. Sure they could patent GMO organism that produces it, but the process to produce it chemically is already well understood, Shulgin has published recipes to produce virtually every psychedelic chemically pure in Pikal and Tikal.
Would they not be able to profit from the stability of lab-produced drugs? Would the generic market not want to produce these? After all, some of the drug manufacturers produce both brand-name and generic drugs [1].
Regardless of patent, I'm pretty sure some players would happily get into the prescription market. On top of this, I'm going to guess since it seems some of these drugs out-perform the available prescription drugs and is cheaper in the long run, insurance companies and governments alike (since some places have universal care and even the US is invested in some forms of healthcare) stand to profit from having this sort of thing be the first line of treatment when possible.
[1] http://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/features/featurethe...