Clinical trials of psychedelics creates a patent gold rush

A growing number of companies are filing patent applications for natural and synthetic psychedelics encouraged by clinical trials providing evidence that their use may be helpful in treating a wide variety of mental health issues and other medical conditions. Robin Feldman, a professor at the University of California Hastings College of Law, expressed concerns about the gold rush mentality. “It’s not pretty when you look under the hood,” she said. “With psychedelics, what we’re seeing is a clash of cultures between the altruism of those who want to use existing compounds in new and exciting ways crashing up against the realities of the patent system.”