DeSci Projects Predominantly Focus on Healthcare

In the realm of decentralised science (DeSci), healthcare-related projects are in the majority. This was stated by VitaDAO steward Alex Dobrin in a conversation with Cointelegraph. 

He believes this trend has partly emerged because the pace of new drug development “motivates taking science and development into one’s own hands.”

Moreover, there is a growing negative perception of traditional medicine’s achievements, as the time and cost of bringing new drugs to market “are increasing exponentially,” noted the VitaDAO representative. 

This pattern is reflected in Eroom’s Law—the opposite of the more famous Moore’s Law, which states that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles every two years.

Eroom’s Law demonstrates the opposite effect: the cost of developing new drugs doubles every nine years.

Dobrin pointed to a study by Onchain Foundation, in which the company examined 60 DeSci projects and found that 61% are related to healthcare.

Benefits for Healthcare Professionals 

The interviewee noted that decentralised science will offer “cheaper and faster drugs,” as this approach is “much more capital efficient.” 

“By sharing information about clinical trial results and using it as a collaborative tool, research will become much more efficient while maintaining the confidentiality of commercial intellectual property,” agreed BitDoctor.ai co-founder Asher Loui.

He also saw benefits in recording clinical trials on the blockchain. This will make the information more accurate and immutable. 

Loui highlighted three main areas where DeSci can have a positive impact: supply chains, trial participant recruitment, and patient consent.

He noted that healthcare “lends itself to decentralised models due to the importance of accurate and timely data.”

“Firstly, patients with unmet medical needs can more easily find and match with clinical trials by sharing their electronic medical records. Conversely, pharmaceutical companies will gain access to this information to ensure the right patient sampling,” explained Loui. 

In such situations, time is of the essence, as “failure to meet selection criteria and withdrawal from studies are major causes of delays in clinical trials,” added the head of BitDoctor.ai. 

Integration of DeSci

The next logical step will be to use decentralised finance to create more structured clinical trials and accelerate the path from “lab to bedside,” emphasised Dobrin. 

“The genie was let out of the bottle when people realised they could actually own a part of the drug born from their efforts. And it’s only a matter of time before the next billion-dollar drug appears online,” he asserted. 

In 2023, the total revenue of the global pharmaceutical industry exceeded $1.6 trillion, $100 billion more than the previous year.

Dobrin believes that in the future, the lines between decentralised and centralised medicine will begin to blur, as the healthcare industry adopts the model that best suits specific circumstances.

“[Corporations] will prefer to invest a little capital in a DAO and gain access to its research developments rather than spend large sums on creating an internal scientific division in the field of […]”, said Dobrin.

One such example is VitaDAO itself, which in January 2023 raised $4.1 million from Pfizer Ventures.

“Pharmaceutical companies and society understand that data collaboration does not necessarily mean sharing the secrets of their research. And sharing knowledge and information is for the benefit of all,” concluded Dobrin. 

In August, medical technology company Semler Scientific announced the purchase of 83 BTC for $5 million. In May, the firm acquired 581 BTC worth $40 million.