Role of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) in Pharma Research

Swati Kulkarni

Independent Researcher

Maharashtra, India

Abstract

The pharmaceutical industry has long faced challenges related to transparency, inefficiencies in drug discovery, and centralized decision-making structures. Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), enabled by blockchain technology, offer a transformative model for managing collaborative research, funding, intellectual property (IP) governance, and clinical data transparency. This manuscript explores the conceptual foundation of DAOs, their historical relevance to pharmaceutical innovation, and their potential to democratize research efforts by aligning stakeholders through token-based voting, smart contracts, and trustless data sharing. By examining technological capabilities and academic discourse, this study critically analyzes the suitability of DAO structures for clinical trials, open drug discovery, and decentralized funding of neglected disease research. The literature review surveys early blockchain experimentation, collaborative research networks, and open science platforms. The methodology includes a qualitative assessment of case analogs, simulated DAO frameworks for pharma use, and stakeholder analysis. Results indicate that DAO models could improve transparency, cost-effectiveness, and participation diversity in pharma R&D. However, practical implementation was limited before 2015 due to technological immaturity and regulatory ambiguity. This paper concludes by positioning DAOs as a viable future framework for ethical and distributed pharmaceutical innovation.

Keywords

DAOs, pharmaceutical research, blockchain, decentralized governance, open science, smart contracts, drug discovery, clinical trials, research funding, intellectual property

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