This week I will be featuring the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) organization that was founded by Rick Doblin in 1986. I have mentioned this organization several times throughout prior blog posts, but this one will go into greater depth about the organization and the founder. Healthcare financing and strategies for sustaining innovation will be the primary topic and is relevant because Rick and his organization have firsthand experience with both financing and innovation in the world of psychedelics. MAPS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and educational organization. This means that it has been approved by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as exempt from federal income tax and that individuals can take a tax deduction on any donations to the organization. MAPS relies on the donations of individuals because no funding is available from governments, pharmaceutical companies, or major foundations. 501(c)(3) organizations are prohibited from supporting political candidates or conducting political campaign activities. However, they can lobby but can lose their tax-exempt status if a substantial part of activities is attempting to influence legislation (IRS, 2019). Involving themselves in issues of public policy, such as educational meetings or seminars, is not considered lobbying by the IRS (IRS, 2019). Interestingly, MAPS owns a subsidiary called MAPS Public Benefit Corporation (MAPS BC). A Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) pays taxes, operates for profit, spends profits on a specific benefit to the public, and is intended to be more transparent, sustainable, and accountable than a traditional corporation (Stracqualursi, 2017). The financial reports consolidate information from MAPS and MAPS BC. The 2017-2017 fiscal year showed approximately $5.9 million in net revenue from donors, events, sales, grants, and investments (MAPS, 2017). About 50% of that came from individuals and family foundations (MAPS, 2017). Rick stated that there might be fundraising challenges on the path to FDA approval for the prescription use of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy as the project needs approximately $26 million to complete Phase 3 trials. He emphasized the need to discuss the potential commercialization of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, particularly with the recent epidemic that has increased social stress, anxiety, depression, and trauma. Likely, the need for treatment and subsequent access to coverage through insurance will increase once the treatment is approved by the FDA. His goal is to obtain insurance coverage for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy and then obtain prescription use and insurance coverage for other psychedelics. MAPS is innovative to its core, as the very idea of psychedelics in therapy goes against current mainstream thinking. MAPS has chosen an anti-patent strategy to support the benefit for humanity. They do not oppose for-profit companies but believe that non-profit and PBC’s can help keep the focus on patients first and profits second. With the current situation regarding COVID-19 some of MAPS clinical trials have been postponed. It is unclear what impact this may have on the projected Phase 3 trial completion (anticipated for 2021) and subsequent FDA approval (anticipated 2022).
Financing and strategies for sustaining innovation are important for any organization to discuss. Particularly in times of uncertainty or economic downturn like we are currently experiencing. The ability to adapt, modify, and change processes quickly is important for survival.
References
MAPS. (2017). FY 2016-2017 financial report. Retrieved from https://maps.org/about/fiscal/7193-fy-2016-2017-financial-report
Internal Revenue Service (IRS). (2019). Lobbying. Retrieved from https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/lobbying
Stracqualursi, M. (2017). The rise of the public benefit corporation: Considerations for Start-UPS — BC law lab. Retrieved from https://bclawlab.org/eicblog/2017/3/21/the-rise-of-the-public-benefit-corporation-considerations-for-start-ups
Underutilization of Psychedelic-assisted Psychotherapy for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders 
I think MAPS PBC is an innovative way for MAPS to continue to fund their research, while still maintaining the integrity of their mission. I agree that financing important for all organizations to discuss, and the decisions made now regarding policy and potential commercialization are really important. Rick Doblin definitely is not in the industry to get rich, as he has maintained the same vision for years and persevered through many obstacles to get to where things are now. I love his anti-patent strategy, as well as the extensive training program required for the therapists that will be working with people who benefit from this medicine. I understand the concerns that have been brought up in regards to new for-profit companies being formed, such as Compass Pathways who have already patented a psilocybin analog. On the one hand, they have had the ability to educate many psychiatrists on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and have the means to make this more widely available, as the country is currently in a mental health crisis and in need of more effective interventions. I think there are dangers of industry corruption though as well, and until recently the movement was geared towards helping to relieve suffering and catalyzing social change. Hopefully that won’t change.
I recently watched a talk by Steve DeAngelo, one of the activists at the forefront on the cannabis industry. He spoke about the original plans they had to make cannabis a socially conscious industry. They had planned for a portion of the profits to go to the Drug Policy Alliance, working towards freeing people put in prison for non-violent related cannabis offenses and helping them to rebuild their lives. He talked about how important it was for them to make cannabis accessible to people who could benefit by creating a compassionate-use program. He also said that when they began to invite investors into the market to move the legislation along, a lot of the original activists lost power and influence over the direction of the market. Financing can be such a complex issue, and it will be interesting to see how things unfold.
LikeLike