Decriminalize Nature Launches Canadian Campaign
The Details:
- Decriminalize Nature is the advocacy group responsible for successful decriminalization campaigns in Denver, CO, Oakland, CA, and Santa Cruz, CA.
- The Canadian branch is supported by the US activists in partnership with the Canadian Psychedelic Association.
- The petition is backed by Green Party Member of Parliament Paul Manley
- The petition calls for parliament to discontinue enforcement of regulations of plants and fungis where “an established record of traditional use exist,” to “Affirm these practice” under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Food and Drug Act, to exempt these substances for a number of uses related to therapeutic, medical, traditional or self-development.
Why it Matters:
- To Require an official government response, the petition must gather the very achievable threshold of 500 signatures from Canadian citizens, along with the support of a Member of Parliament which it has.
- An official government response can be as simple as saying “no thank you.”
- This petition is in competition with a campaign from Therapsil to have the Minister of Health grant exemptions for the use of psilocybin for certain terminally ill patients.
- If the Government were to act at all on psychedelics, the Therapsil petition is likely much more palatable to them politically.
- Decriminalization opens up a pandora’s box of policy and law enforcement implications, a massive challenge in a federation.
MindMed (NEO:MMED) Announces New Targets in Pipeline
The Details:
- Both trials are in collaboration with Leitchi Laboratories at the University Hospital Basel, who the company has acquired IP from and established an ongoing collaboration agreement with.
- The anxiety disorder trial will be “experiential” meaning the patient will have a psychedelic experience supported by a trained therapist. MindMed intends to commence a phase 2b human efficacy trial.
- Recruiting began for the phase 2 cluster headache trial in January, and they have now started treating patients.
Why It Matters:
- With these announcements MindMed will have 3 phase 2 clinical trials being prepped or underway, positioning the company as the most broad based for profit psychedelic drug developer.
- The broad based approach is a double edged sword, drug development comes with a very high failure rate, taking a bet on multiple drugs helps spread out that risk. On the other hand, these are big bets, the cost of getting a drug approved and too market is very high.
- MindMed appears to be positioning themselves as The Psychedelic Company, that can and will do everything, sucking up all the air from competitors. A public market strategy that was mostly effective for board member Bruce Linton.
Champignon Brands (CSE:SHRM) closes financing, announces next steps in drug discovery program
The Details:
- Champignon announced on June 11th the closing of a $15M private placement financing. 17,647,500 Units were sold at a price of $0.85 each. A unit consists of one share and one half warrant priced at $1.15. The deal was brokered by Eight Capital and Canaccord Genuity.
- In a press release dated June 8th, Champignon announced the selection of Dalriada Drug Discovery Inc. a contract research organization to lead the company’s drug discovery program.
- The partnership will focus on new chemical entities, as in synthetics, related to ketamine and psilocybin.
Why It Matters:
- The latest financing for Champignon puts them firmly in the top tier of well financed psychedelic companies.
- We’re starting to see the coming together of a cohesive strategy of vertical integration from drug discovery to treatment.
- Eight Capital and Canaccord Genuity, the brokers, were very active in raising capital for cannabis companies. They have the pull to raise hundreds of millions into speculative industries, watch for them repeat these successes.
Numinus (TSX-V:NUMI) receives Health Canada licence amendment to produce and extract psilocybin from mushrooms.
The Details
- Numinus is the first publicly traded company to be licensed to conduct these activities.
- Production of mushrooms and extraction of psilocybin will be lower cost than the common alternative of producing synthetic psilocybin.
Why It Matters:
- There are reportedly challenges in obtaining high quality psilocybin for clinical research purposes, with this amendment the company will be able to supply their own researchers and those from other organizations with products.
- Under Numinus’s license they will be able to research psilocybin and psilocybin extraction techniques allowing them to be well positioned to develop IP surrounding cultivation and extraction techniques. A potentially valuable piece of the supply chain if these substances move towards mass market acceptance.
- Numinus has not been approved to sell psilocybin nor has psilocybin been approved for use outside of a limited number of clinical trials. A long road remains ahead until any market exists for the fruits of this research.
What Else We’re Watching this Week
Therapsil, whose executive director is featured on our Conversations podcast, landed news stories with CTV and Global news, both of which feature terminally ill patients who are seeking exemptions to use psychedelics.
We can no longer ignore the potential of psychedelic drugs to treat depression: Prominent psychedelic researcher Dr. Robin Carthart Harris of Imperial College takes to the pages of The Guardian to make the case for psychedelics and mental health.
Magic mushrooms and mental health: could psychedelic drugs treat depression?: Professor David Nutt, who was famously forced to resign as the UK Government’s drug advisor after saying LSD and ecstasy were less dangerous than alcohol, gave an interview with Science Focus, the BBC’s science publication about the ins and outs of psychedelics and mental health.
PSYC Expanding Their Global Reach To Showcase Psychedelic Industry Leaders and Pioneers. Global Trac Solutions (OTC PINK: PSYC), my favourite publicly traded, press release trigger happy, psychedelic company, has issued an official press release announcing their plan to interview a series of “industry leaders and pioneers.”
