The Pipeline Problem: What Autism Drug Development Still Gets Wrong
The headlines read like progress: more than 20 drugs in development, 18+ biotech firms investing millions, and a pipeline pushing through Phase I to Phase III clinical trials.
But dig beneath the press release polish and you'll find the same old frame: autism as a pathology to be managed, not a neurotype to be understood.
What's in the Pipeline?
According to a recent industry update from DelveInsight, the autism drug pipeline includes:
MM-402 (MindMed)
FIN-211 (Finch Therapeutics, microbiome)
AB-2004 PTR (Axial Therapeutics, microbiome)
RO6953958 (Roche)
STP-1 (STALICLA)
ML-004 (MapLight Therapeutics, serotonin receptor)
Tasimelteon (Vanda, sleep aid)
Cariprazine (AbbVie, antipsychotic repurposing)
The list goes on, with a heavy focus on microbiome therapies, serotonin modulation, and behavioral "correction" via neuromodulation. But what it lacks is any sense of autistic agency, narrative sovereignty or ethical reflection.
DelveInsight: Selling Pathology as Promise
DelveInsight isn’t just reporting on the autism drug pipeline. It’s marketing it. Their tone isn’t analytical; it’s promotional. The entire report reads like a pitch deck to investors, not a call to serve real human needs. Their framing doesn’t ask whether these drugs help autistic people thrive. It asks whether they will "penetrate market share."
DelveInsight is not a neutral source. It profits from hype. And in doing so, it launders deficit-framed science through corporate optimism, making harmful ideas look like innovation.
Let’s be clear:
There’s no mention of long-term impacts on autistic identity
No scrutiny of consent frameworks
No inclusion of autistic researchers
It’s a blueprint for exploitation wrapped in the language of progress.
What These Drugs Claim to Do
The drugs target what the industry calls the "core symptoms" of autism: social behavior, repetitive movements and emotional regulation. In other words, they aim to reduce the visible traits that make us recognizably autistic.
But whose problem are those traits? Ours? Or society's?
Why This Framing Is Harmful
Pharma’s framing assumes that the core of autism is dysfunction. It ignores that many of the so-called impairments are mismatches with neurotypical environments, not internal defects. And it completely sidesteps questions of:
What traits are worth "treating"
Who defines improvement
How consent, identity, and long-term dignity are respected
If a drug makes an autistic person more compliant but less expressive, is that progress? If it reduces meltdowns by blunting sensory perception, is that relief or suppression?
The Missing Piece: Us
Autistic voices are entirely absent from these conversations. Not one of the highlighted drug companies includes autistic leadership or participatory research frameworks. This isn’t innovation. It’s extraction.
What We Actually Need
Autistic-led research on what supports well-being, not just symptom reduction
Investment in systems change: housing, healthcare access and community support
Honest discourse about the power dynamics in "treatment"
Final Word
A pill can't fix structural neglect. And a pipeline that views autistic life as a problem to solve isn’t medicine. It’s marketing.
Until autistic people are centered in the questions, not just the trials, this isn't progress. It's more of the same.