Psychedelic Business News Spotlight: April 2, 2021

This week in psychedelic business news: cannabis company delves into psychedelics, a new delivery systems for ketamine, and psilocybin investigated to calm anxiety in individuals with autism.

Creso Pharma, a developer and producer of cannabis products, announced it is pursuing a dual listing on the QTCQB market in the United States. The OTC listing is expected to be live within 45 days and provide a platform for the company to boost its visibility among U.S. investors. 

The news comes just one week after Creso announced it would enter the global psychedelic medicine market with the acquisition of Windsor, Canada-based Halucenex Life Sciences. Halucenex is scheduled to begin Phase 2 clinical trials in June to investigate psilocybin as a treatment for veterans and first responders suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

Vancouver-based biotechnology company Nova Mentis Life Science Corp. (NOVA), is partnering with FourthWall Testing in Winter Garden, Florida, to establish a serotonin research center to bolster its neuroinflammatory research program. 

The company intends to launch a longitudinal data bank to support large-scale studies of its proprietary psilocybin microbiome in individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and fragile X syndrome, an inherited form of intellectual disability associated with anxiety, autism, mood instability, and aggression. Nova previously announced that its psilocybin product was found to reduce anxiety in laboratory rat with autism. 

Core One, a Vancouver-based research and technology company, has taken its first steps into the U.S. health and wellness sector with the acquisition of Ketamine Infusions Centers of Texas (KICT). The transaction provides Core One with a roster of patients for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy utilizing the company’s novel delivery system. 

Core One has developed a patent pending thin film oral strip which dissolves instantly when placed in the mouth and delivers medicine in precise quantities to the bloodstream. The company also intends to offer through KICT its Active Pharmaceutical Grade (API)-grade psilocybin, upon legalization of the psychedelic compound. 

“Our acquisition of KICT represents Core One’s initial acquisition in the U.S. market and will enable us to implement our platform for psychedelic treatments as they are legalized,” said Joel Shacker, Core One CEO.

Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc., filed a preliminary short form base shelf prospectus with securities regulators in each of the Canadian provinces and territories and a corresponding registration statement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking approval to offer and sell shares of the company. 

“Management believes the filing of this base shelf prospectus and registration statement provides the company with flexibility to pursue various strategic initiatives in accordance with the company’s growth strategy,” MindMed said in a statement. 

Psychedelics biotech company PharmaTher Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Newscope Capital Corporation, entered into an agreement with The Queen’s University of Belfast to develop a patented hydrogel-forming microneedle patch to deliver ketamine as well as PharmaTher’s proprietary ketamine formulation, KETABET, for the treatment of neuropsychiatric, neurodegenerative, and pain disorders. 

“The potential for ketamine is significant and we are leading the way to develop a better ketamine solution to treat these unmet medical needs,” said Fabio Chianelli, CEO of PharmaTher.  “We believe that ketamine and our proprietary ketamine formulation, KETABET, delivered in the patented microneedle patch could potentially change the ways that mental health, neurodegenerative and pain disorders are treated.”

Havn Life Sciences Inc., a Vancouver-based psychedelic biotech company, has entered a letter of intent to partner with nutraceutical company Hypha Wellness Jamaica Psilocybin (HWJP) to research and legally produce standardized powdered homogenized psilocybin API products. 

“Growing regulated psilocybin mushrooms for medical research is a very complex process. Our Jamaican collaborations are expected to allow us to optimize and refine our processes faster than we could elsewhere. Most importantly, they’re expected to better facilitate Havn Life’s commitment to helping patients, specifically those participating in observational studies in Jamaica,” says Dr. Ivan Casselman, Chief Psychedelic Officer of Havn Life. “Havn Life’s work in Jamaica is aimed at furthering our mandate of supplying safe, quality controlled, psilocybin medicine to researchers and patients around the globe.”