Mode 2 knowledge production: evidence from orphan drug networks

Abstract

This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of public participation in the process of science policy-making and the lay public's contribution to scientific knowledge production. Nowotny <it>et al</it> (2001) claim that the traditional boundaries between expert and lay knowledge are being transgressed and science and technology are thereby enriched. I provide empirical evidence that a new postacademic model of innovation has emerged where contextual knowledge is socially constructed and integrated into the innovation process. This research indicates that patients and lay experts do not simply speak to science (Nowotny <it>et al</it>, 2001) but in the case of orphan drug development contribute to complex political and regulatory negotiations and collaborate in knowledge production working alongside scientists, clinicians, industry and academics as equal partners, demonstrating the relationships between scientific expertise, public policy-making and the public.