The emerging psychedelics therapy market has been among the top financial stories of 2021 so far, driven by major legal and regulatory breakthroughs, promising research and groundbreaking industry development. These key developments have put more eyes than ever before on psychedelics, and a rush of companies are looking to enter the market. As the psychedelics market gains momentum, companies like Pure Extracts Technologies Corp. (CSE:PULL) (OTC:PRXTF) (XFRA: A2QJAJ), Field Trip Health Ltd. (CSE:FTRP) (OTCPK:FTRPF), Empower Clinics (CSE:CBDT) (OTCQB:EPWCF), Aikido Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:AIKI), and Revive Therapeutics (CSE:RVV) (OTCPK:RVVTF) are in a rush to set themselves up as leading players with key research, clinical trials, and high-profile product launches.
Pure Extracts Locks Down Important Supply and Technology
Pure Extracts Technologies Corp. (CSE:PULL) (OTC:PRXTF) (XFRA: A2QJAJ) is becoming one of the leading companies planning to produce pharmaceutical-grade extracted psilocybin products, along with a lineup of extract products in other biotech spaces. The Company is equipped to produce high-quality extracts out of its fully EU-GMP compliant extraction lab located north of Whistler, British Columbia. Pure Extracts has applied to Health Canada for a Dealer’s Licence under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to produce, distribute, and sell comercial psilocybin products, and in the meantime, the Company is engaged in key research and development into the formulation and manufacturing of therapeutic psilocybin products.
On March 9, Pure Extracts announced that the Company has signed a letter of intent with leading Canadian mushroom cultivator ShroomBloom Labs/Floja Bioscience Inc. that will give Pure Extracts preferential rates and access to ShroomBloom’s crop of psychedelic mushroom biomass. This agreement ensures that Pure Extracts will have a steady and ample supply of biomass for the Company’s research and product development.
“A supply agreement with a world-class cultivator like ShroomBloom would ensure a reliable source of high-quality, high-potency, psychedelic mushroom biomass for our extraction facility so that we can produce plenty of psilocybin for our formulation R&D activities and for any resulting clinical trials,” Pure Extracts CEO Ben Nikolaevsky said in the Company’s release.
On March 18, Pure Extracts announced that the Company has placed an order with Vitalis Extraction Technology for a new, state-of-the-art Cosolvent Injection System (CIS). Pure Extracts will be one of the first companies in the commercial extraction space to utilize this technology.
“We are very excited to be one of the first recipients of the Vitalis Cosolvent Injection System. It will allow us to ramp-up our production much faster than we had anticipated allowing us to offer our customers exceptional value while still producing the same high-quality oil extracts we are known for,” Ben Nikolaevsky said in Pure Extracts’ release.
Psychedelics Sector is Hot With Research and Development
Field Trip Health Ltd. (CSE:FTRP) (OTCPK:FTRPF) most recently entered into a partnership with the Jamaican-based University of the West Indies to introduce the world’s first legal research in psilocybin-producing mushrooms.Often referred to as “shrooms” or “magic mushrooms”, the research on these psilocybin-producting mushrooms will take place in a facility located in Jamaica. Additionally, clinical studies on psilocybin have projected the potential benefits of this plant and the positive changes it will bring for the psychedelic industry. Individuals who struggle with complex mental health conditions including anorexia, PTSD, and depression could possibly benefit from this product. The facility will be utilized to find the most suitable use for psilocybin in medical treatments.
Oncology-focused pharma company Aikido Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:AIKI) executed a patent license agreement in January for technology related to psilocybin treatments for cancer and health effects related to cancer. Aikido’s CEO commented in the company’s release that the company sees psychedelics as an expanding area of treatment. In February, Aikido executed a letter of intent with Silo Pharma Inc. for a worldwide, exclusive sublicense for use of combined peptide/psilocybin therapy to treat neuroinflammatory disease in cancer patients.
On March 19, Revive Therapeutics (CSE:RVV) (OTCPK:RVVTF) announced positive results for the company’s rodent model pre-clinical study evaluating the efficacy of psilocybin in the treatment of mild traumatic brain injuries. The study, conducted at National Health Research Institutes, found that psilocybin improved cognitive function in mice that have experienced traumatic brain injuries and that there were no adverse effects observed from the psilocybin. Revive recently acquired the provisional patent application from PharmaTher for “Psilocybin in the Treatment of Neurological Brain Injury.”
Empower Clinics (CSE:CBDT) (OTCQB:EPWCF) has also ventured into other business lines in order to diversify its company and to meet the physical and mental needs of people. The company launched a psychedelics division, an extension of the company, named Dosed Wellness Ltd. This sector will be funded by the $720K that Empower Clinics closed on from a non-brokered private placement.
The psychedelics industry has reached a critical point of development where companies have an opportunity to establish themselves as key players in a surging market, and companies like Pure Extracts are timing their own developments to do just that.
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Featured image: DepositPhotos © AndreyPopov