The biggest story in psychedelic stock news this week, is that Compass Pathways (Nasdaq: CMPS) appears to have won the patent battles surrounding their Comp 360 molecule. Earlier, the company had been granted two patents covering the synthetic psilocybin, but they were being challenged in the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
The crux of the issue was whether Comp 360 is a novel compound that hasn’t been created before, or whether it had previously existed in the public domain. The Board ruled in Compass’ favor, saying that Comp 360 was in fact novel. This means the patents hold, and can not be challenged in court. The decision was final, and can not be appealed.
To learn more about this decision, and its implications on competition in the psychedelic medicines industry, read Compass Pathways’ Psilocybin Patent Upheld.
Next up in psychedelic stock news, MindMed (NEO: MMED, Nasdaq: MNMD) has been granted a patent for the practice commonly referred to as “Candy Flipping” by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. As reported by Graham Pechenik, Editor-at-Large for Psychedelic Alpha, MindMed’s patent gives them claims to a “composition comprising an empathogen/entactogen and a psychedelic in the same single oral dosage form.”
Essentially, this means MindMed has the sole right to combine empathogens (such as MDMA) and psychedelics (such as LSD) into “the same single oral dosage form.” As Pechenik writes, the patent also covers how such a combination will be used, including in the treatment of “psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, anxiety related to life-threatening disease, OCD, personality disorder, and addiction.”
This patent will likely be controversial, as the act of combining LSD and MDMA has been done recreationally for decades. MindMed says the difference lies in the fact that their “invention” is that both drugs reside within “the same single oral dosage form,” whereas “Recreational users use MDMA & LSD in separate dosage forms.”
The patent will also cover the combinations of other empathogens (ex: MDA; MDEA; MDAI; and 3-MMC) with other psychedelics (ex: mescaline; and DMT).
To learn more, read Graham Pechenik’s Twitter thread.
Numinus Wellness (TSE:NUMI, OTCMKTS: NUMIF) has filed a patent application to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) “for a rapid production process for Psilocybe and other fungi species containing psilocybin and other compounds.”
The company had already filed a patent for the same process in the USA, but if this new application is granted, “patent protection would extend to all WIPO member states that have signed the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), including Australia, Germany, Netherlands and the United Kingdom.”
According to Numinus, the production process they are attempting to patent will “significantly increase production of therapeutics for use in psychedelic-assisted therapy, while reducing product variability, increasing production efficiency and ultimately reducing commercialization costs.”
Numinus’ thesis is that naturally produced psilocybin will be more cost-effective than synthetic psilocybin, and thus are trying to perfect the production process for psilocybe fungi.
Continuing with psychedelic stock news, Cybin (NEO: CYBN, NYSE American: CYBN) released financial data for the quarter —and fiscal year— that ended on March 31st, 2022.
As of March 31st, Cybin had C$53.6 million in cash and cash equivalents.
The net loss for the quarter was C$18.1 million, though C$5.1 million of that was non-cash expenses. Extrapolating into the future, if Cybin were to hold its cash expenditures steady at C$13.0 million per quarter, the company will have enough money for 1 year of operations. Though the company states that C$3.8 million were one-time, non-recurring costs, there are always various one-time costs, so I did not remove these from the calculation.
For the year, Cybin had a net loss of C$67.6 million, of which C$21.8 million were non-cash expenses.
Given these numbers, it seems likely that within a year Cybin will have to raise capital.
Mindset Pharma (CSE: MSET, FSE: 9DF, OTCQB: MSSTF) this week announced that they have “entered into an innovative research collaboration with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.” The Toronto-based hospital and Mindset will run a preclinical study on Mindset’s patented next-generation psilocybin molecule, MSP-1014.
The study will investigate how macro and micro doses of both MSP-1014 and classical psilocybin “modulate expression levels of molecular biomarkers of brain plasticity in rats.” The goal is to understand how changes in biomarkers can cause “behavioral changes associated with a single psychedelic experience and develop molecular insights into the magnitude of effects of its lead compound, MSP-1014, compared to psilocybin.”
Mindset Pharma says that MSP-1014 “has the potential to be a stronger, safer, more cost-effective alternative to psilocybin.” This will be tested in future human clinical trials.
This week, Red Light Holland (CSE: TRIP, FSE: 4YX, OTC Pink: TRUFF) announced that they have closed “their previously announced acquisition of 100 acres of farmland located in the township of Cavan-Monaghan in Peterborough, Ontario.” The company paid C$1.85 million for the land.
Red Light plans to “develop the Farm into approximately 65,000 sq. feet of two Mushroom production facilities,” with the help of Acadian Exotic Mushrooms, a company that is majority-owned by Red Light. Construction is slated to begin this summer.
Speaking on the acquisition, and Red Light’s cash position, Todd Shapiro, CEO and Director of Red Light, said “We are extremely confident at Red Light because of how prudent we have been at running our psychedelic business, preserving cash at a time when most of our peers are straining to attract new capital. Red Light Holland, on the other hand, has a significant cash position as we are clearly focused on increasing revenues while having a strategic and aligned plan to grow, in order to weather difficult markets and harder economic times.”
Optimi Health Requests Approval To Manufacture MDMA, Other Synthetic Psychedelics
This week, Optimi Health Corp. (CSE: OPTI, OTCQX: OPTHF, FRA: 8BN) “submitted a request with Health Canada for an amendment to its Controlled Substances Dealer’s Licence.”
The company, which already can manufacture and sell naturally derived psilocybin, is requesting its license be expanded to include the synthetic production of compounds such as MDMA, DMT, LSD, mescaline, and ketamine.
The company says that this “move aligns with Optimi’s planned year of commercialization, allowing the Company to maximize revenue-generating opportunities through standardized psychedelic drug testing, R&D, and product development through approved clinical trials and exemption-based applications.”
This week, Tryp Therapeutics (CSE: TRYP, OTCQB: TRYPF) announced that Sid Taubenfeld, “a seasoned executive with healthcare and biotech expertise,” has become their new Chief Operating Officer.
Before joining Tryp, Taubenfeld served as the CEO of Tikun Olam Pharma, an Israeli medical cannabis company.
According to Tryp, “Sid’s primary responsibilities will include developing the organization’s long-term vision and strategy alongside the CEO and Board; ensuring that the company operates effectively and efficiently in all areas; and helping ensure a high-performing portfolio and psychedelic medicine advancements at Tryp.”
BetterLife Pharma (CSE: BETR, OTCQB: BETRF, FRA: NPAU) will present preclinical data for the drug 2-bromo-LSD (“BETR-001”) at the upcoming Federation of European Neuroscience Societies Forum, held on July 9-13 in Paris, France.
BetterLife’s lead compound, 2-bromo-LSD/BETR-001, is a non-hallucinogenic derivative of LSD. At the conference, BetterLife will “present preclinical data demonstrating the anti-depressant and neural plasticity-promoting properties of BETR-001 from both in vitro and in vivo studies.”
BetterLife believes BETR-001 has the “potential to be as effective as LSD in various neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders without the burden of being hallucinogenic.” If this can be proved in human clinical trials, it would revolutionize the psychedelics industry, as BETR-001 would not have to be administered “in specialized clinics under special treatment protocols.” This would drastically cut the costs of psychedelic medicines.
However, we would need to see human clinical data showing non-hallucinogenic versions of psychedelics being effective in treating health conditions before we get too excited about this prospect. This is a topic that Psychedelic Spotlight Editor, James Kent, explored this week in the article, Is the Mystical Experience Necessary for Psychedelic Therapy?
To wrap up this week’s psychedelic stock news, Mydecine Innovations Group’s (NEO: MYCO, OTC: MYCOF, FSE: 0NFA) version of psilocybin —MYCO-001— has been cleared by the FDA to begin an in-human Investigator Initiated trial.
The trial, being headed by Jons Hopkins psychedelic researcher, Dr. Matthew Johnson, will aim to “determine if psilocybin increases smoking abstinence compared to a placebo,” when paired with therapy.
Interestingly, the trial is being funded with close to $4 million from the National Institutes of Health, “making this the first time in 50 years the U.S. government has funded a study evaluating a psychedelic compound for therapeutic use”.
Mydecine is also preparing to launch a phase 2b trial, again testing the ability of MYCO-001 to treat nicotine addiction.
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