Paper short abstract:

In the context of therapeutic drug discovery and development for neglected diseases, this paper contemplates how we can understand the molecules that lie at the heart of this process as important and desirable things, in order to entertain a discussion of value that emanates from these particular compounds.

Paper long abstract:

In "the Pharmaceutical Person", Emily Martin (2006: 8) states: "pills defy recognition of their complexity in an important way: they look like sweets." The scientific labour at the heart of the production of therapeutic drugs is alienated, and the complexity of the very materiality of molecules is often overlooked. My research investigates drug development for neglected diseases, and in this context I suggest going back to the very beginning, focusing on the molecules that lie at the heart of the process. Many actors involved in drug discovery and development - be it the pharmaceutical industry or not-for-profit organisations such as product development partnerships, foundations, and translational research centres - work from what are known as molecule libraries, in order to screen thousands of compounds in the hope of discovering a hit that will eventually become a therapeutic drug. In this paper, I focus on the molecules themselves, posing the following question: how can we understand molecules as important and desirable things? Through a consideration of molecules as commodities, and considering them in their very materiality, I argue that focusing on molecular compounds entails a critical discussion of value.