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But edible biologics introduce abundance into a system
designed around scarcity.
With AI-enabled platforms optimizing yield and
consistency, production becomes not only cheaper, but
scalable and distributable.

The ethical framework must evolve in kind.

We must ask:

• Should a $3 capsule grown in a plant be priced at
$30,000 simply because the injectable version was?
• Should communities be prevented from growing
their own medicine because a multinational owns
the gene sequence?
• Should access be tied to infrastructure when the
infrastructure is no longer necessary?

This is not just a technological challenge.
It’s an ethical inflection point.

Key Ethical Tensions in the Era of Edible
Biologics

1. From Exclusive Licenses to Shared Access

Traditionally, biopharma uses exclusivity to protect its
investment: develop a drug, lock it down with patents and
regulatory protections, and recoup costs through high-
margin pricing. But this approach becomes ethically
unstable when:

• The drug can be cheaply grown anywhere.

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