James A. Boiani, Member of the Firm in the Health Care & Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Washington, DC, office, was quoted in Law360, in “Psychedelic Meds Are Opening a New Frontier for Legal Work,” by Hannah Albarazi. (Read the full version – subscription required.)
Following is an excerpt:
A new wave of experiments with psychedelic drugs is revealing their potential to treat afflictions including depression, addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder, a development that's gradually removing the drugs' stigma and encouraging lawyers to help usher a possible new competitor into the $1 trillion-plus global pharmaceutical market.
With the federal government fast-tracking experimental studies of psychedelic drug-assisted therapies, there's a mad dash to get them through federally authorized clinical trials, nab U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval and get the therapies out to market.
Prestigious universities are joining in, opening research centers, while investors are pumping money into startups and a growing number of psychedelics-related U.S. patents are being granted. Amid this, pioneering lawyers are starting to navigate the uncharted waters of psychedelic law.
Among them is James A. Boiani, an attorney at Epstein Becker & Green PC who advises on FDA compliance. He told Law360 that he sees a "growing recognition of the promise these drugs might hold, ... something that may have been, unfortunately, delayed by stereotypes and history."
Boiani said he isn't expecting widespread deregulation of psychedelics anytime soon, "but," he added, "I'd never say never. People were saying never for pot 20 years ago, and look where we are today." ...
