This week’s bulletin is significantly shorter than usual, allowing us to catch our breath after publishing our 2021 Year in Review (including trends to watch in 2022). You can find the 100-page PDF here, for free.
Psychedelic Sector News
Draft Rules Suggest No Synthetic Psilocybin in Oregon; Only Psilocybe Cubensis
Oregon Psilocybin Services, a section of the Oregon Health Authority tasked with readying the state for the roll-out of psilocybin therapy in 2023, shared a number of draft rules last week. The drafts cover what types of products may be made available, how they might be tested, and how individuals involved in their delivery may be trained.
Interestingly, only mushroom-derived psilocybin will be permitted; and only via the cultivation of Psilocybe cubensis. i.e., the draft rules would require that all psilocybin administered in Oregon is derived from one species of mushroom.
As such, the synthetic production of psilocybin is not permitted. In fact, it’s explicitly prohibited, along with drug delivery methods such as inhalation, nasal sprays and transdermal patches. The rationale behind this move appears to be to limit the market entry of “large pharmaceutical companies” who could “potentially dominate the market,” according to reporting in OPB.
The drafts will be discussed this week.
Other Company News
- Cybin announces grant of patent covering CYB004; reports Q3 financial results;
- Mindset Pharma appoints Dr. Fiona Randall as Senior VP;
- Mydecine’s exclusive dealer identified as licensed psilocybin and MDMA supplier in Canada;
- MYND announces participation in Monash University trial;
- Optimi Health granted Dealer’s License by Health Canada;
- Psyence awarded ISO Certification for natural psilocybin production facility.
Weekend Reading
Fast Company: VC money keeps flowing into psychedelics-based mental health
Mindstate Design Labs officially left stealth mode last Thursday with a concerted media effort which included a piece in Bloomberg and a podcast with our good friends over at Business Trip.
The company was also picked up by Fast Company, who wrote a piece about the VC appetite for psychedelics more generally.
Mindstate founder and CEO Dillan DiNardo tells Fast Company that his first product is based on the design of MDMA, or ecstasy, and is meant for people suffering from treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). MDMA-based drugs aim to remove the mental barriers that prevent patients from talking openly about the root causes of their PTSD.
Cathie Wood’s Ark Genomic Revolution ETF Adds atai to Holdings
Cathie Wood's Ark Genomic Revolution ETF ( $ARKG ) adds atai Life Sciences ( $ATAI ) to its holdings.
— Psilocybin Alpha (@PsilocybinAlpha) February 9, 2022
The small purchase represents around 0.01% of the ETF's holdings. pic.twitter.com/VKB2UZmkfp
Weekly Bulletins
Join our newsletter to have our Weekly Bulletin delivered to your inbox every Friday evening. We summarise the week’s most important developments and share our Weekend Reading suggestions.
Live Updates
Join us on Twitter for the latest news and analysis.
Other Channels
You can also find us on LinkedIn, Instragram, and Facebook.