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Short abstract:

This paper traces a movement to “open” the research and making of drugs, a sociotechnical space known for entrenched intellectual property regimes, and analyzes its implications for health equity.

Long abstract:

Research institutions and funding agencies have increasingly embraced open science as a means to propel biomedical advancement. Meanwhile, the rising complexity and costs of drug development have led some to wonder whether open practices should be extended to pharmaceuticals, a space known for entrenched intellectual property regimes. In this paper, I trace the emergence of collective action to apply open science to the research and making of drugs, an area I call "open pharma." Drawing on in-depth interviews with open pharma leaders and document analysis of journal articles and organizational policies and websites, I demonstrate how open pharma resembles other scientific/intellectual movements by formulating and advancing a new program of thought. At the same time, the sociotechnical space of pharmaceuticals is deeply entwined in capitalist political economic structures (legal, regulatory, and financial markets) that shape how actors frame and organize their work. Findings identify major narratives discursively employed by actors to frame the movement and mobilize others, often drawing on market logics; illustrate the active building and institutionalizing of open pharma infrastructure through the establishment of organizations and open science policies; and reveal structural barriers to open pharma in universities with publishing and commercialization imperatives—which often translate to patent imperatives. I demonstrate that “open” is being defined and operationalized in particular ways, prioritizing public data sharing of early research (which may later be privatized) over other interventions such as public clinical trials and commercialization, begging the question of where, when, and for whom open pharma is beneficial.