4 Ways the Psychedelic Industry is Changing: Lessons from Plant Medicine Week 2022

If you want to be successful in the transitioning psychedelic industry, you will need to know which way the wind is blowing.

I attended the Plant Medicine Week, co-organised by Microdose, to stay on top of the fast-moving psychedelic trends. At Blossom, it’s my job to know who’s doing what, and these insights will find their way to one of our 20+ psychedelic topic reports. Here they are now, so you don’t have to wait for the next big update.

Catch up with the latest psychedelic industry news to know where you should focus your efforts.

1. The state-by-state changing laws mean interesting real-world data will be generated

Different laws per state (and per country) mean that real-world experiments can help you dissect what type of psychedelic therapy works best.

Catharine Dockery from Vice Ventures shares that state-by-state laws offer informative and educational opportunities to see what works and not.

Oregon may end up offering licences to psychedelic facilitators with underground experience. If passed, Initiatives 49 & 50 can lead to the establishment of psychedelic treatment centres in Colorado. Data down the line will help psychedelic companies figure out what variables will make psychedelic therapies work best.

Keep track of real-world data from the 300+ ketamine clinics currently operating. And combine it with data down the line from places with different laws, to find out what works for your company.

2. Optimising the delivery of psychedelics can be more beneficial than developing novel ones

Most of the drug development in psychedelics looks to develop novel (patentable) psychedelics. Changing how (first generation) psychedelics are delivered to the brain, may offer a quicker route to success.

Abraham Dreazen of IMIO Life shares that they are developing a mechanism of precisely delivering psychedelics to where you want them to go – the brain. Safety issues, such as QT prolongation (heartbeat interval), exist with current psychedelics. If you can deliver psychedelics to where you want, the current issues may be sidestepped.

IMIO is working with MindMed to deliver the first-generation psychedelics exactly where you want them to go. More opportunities exist in other delivery methods (e.g. nasal) and delivery systems to optimise how psychedelics get where they need to go.

3. Generating revenue – now – should be a top goal of psychedelic companies

Research takes time, generating revenue now will allow psychedelic companies to gather a loyal customer base.

Alfred Wong, of Origin Therapeutics, analyses why psychedelic stocks have tanked. One key reason is “the slow path to commercialisation of psychedelic companies.” Wong argues companies – another word for brands – should “aim to derive revenue streams as quickly as possible to de-risk investment and increase brand awareness.”

One of Origin’s investments is Microdose, which is organising conferences, generating revenue right now. Other companies can choose to operate ketamine clinics before other psychedelics are legalised.

Generating revenue should fit with what your business is doing. Starting too early though is never the problem.

4. Psychedelics as a business will extend beyond mental health to “make well people better”

Psychedelic treatments will extend well beyond treating those with mental health issues. Within proposed frameworks such as that in Oregon, a sizeable market will address those seeking psychedelics for self-improvement.

Psychedelics are non-specific amplifiers, and their effects extend beyond helping people with depression or PTSD. As most that have used psychedelics recreationally have experienced, they can help you see life and business decisions more clearly.

Dr Winston De La Haye shared, at the Plant Medicine Week, that he thinks psychedelic treatments will “be used to make well people better.”

Synthesis is an early example of a company offering retreats for self-development. Anne Philippi is partnering up with Field Trip to offer C-level psychedelic retreats.

If you are developing a psychedelic business look broader than only developing treatments for patient populations.

These are four ways the psychedelic industry is changing at the moment. It’s a fast-paced world, come fall it will look completely different again. I hope these insights from Plant Medicine Week will help you stay on top of the landscape.