Psychedelics News June 2020

As the world is still in partial lockdown, the psychedelics field seems to be evolving quicker than ever before. Much of the news below is related to the plans of companies. Some good news also comes from NGOs as MAPS is fundraising and support for psychedelics is growing in the US and Canda.

Two Eyes, Two Ears

The excellent Report on Psychedelics has added many interviews next to the weekly news update.

The Drug Science Podcast is back with David Nutt. It will continue to offer “rational, evidence-based approach to drug policy and drug use.”

Field Trip also launches a podcast. The name ‘Fieldtripping’ is good, but as a company podcast, I wonder how much information will be shared that is not (partly) marketing.

Making Psychedelics Accessible

Segueing into non-profits is done by Tim Ferriss, and his podcast interview and blog post with Rick Doblin. They talk about raising money and how MAPS is now looking for $10 million to ‘unlock’ the final part of the funding they need to make MDMA available (late next year possibly).

What did stand out to me is that most money has come from a few individual donors ($2.15 of $2.5 million by the top 8 donors). Which isn’t a bad things, but less grassroots than maybe expected.

In Oregon, the Psilocybin Service Initiative (IP34) has gathered 142k signatures and and that should be enough to get it on the ballot in November. What is different from other initiatives is that here the focus is on getting licensed and supervised therapy to people, versus (only) looking at decriminalisation.

This is what is being done by Decriminalize Nature by the Canadian Psychedelic Association. Still, here the focus is not on making psychedelics available in a shop, but on providing treatment to people with substances that are now ‘more’ illegal than cocaine. Concurrently, TheraPsil aims to make psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy available to Canadians.

Scientists Speak Up

The pressure, or change in the winds, continues to build as Robin Carhart-Harris argues for psychedelics in The Guardian. The article is titled ‘We can no longer ignore the potential of psychedelic drugs to treat depression’ and states that psychedelics increase brain plasticity which then opens a window of opportunity to have lasting therapeutic change. He was also interviewed on the podcast by ATAI.

Several news outlets reported on a new study specifically on glutamate changes that predicted the level of ego suppression (also mentioned in our May research roundup).

And one vocal scientist is following in his own literary fantasy of becoming a psychedelic therapist. Ben Sessa‘s Mandala Therapy Limited is being taken over by AWKN Life Sciences and that should become the first UK psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy clinic.

And Much More in Business

This month featured more press releases and statements from psychedelic corporations than I can remember in any other month. MindMed announced many new trials with MDMA, LSD, MDMA for ADHD, suicide headaches, and more. Luckily they have most covered in this press release. Personalizing the dose of psychedelics based on more than weight seems like one interesting outcome, hopefully it will be shared (somewhat) outside of the confines of their own company).

The ATAI family of companies also keeps the ball rolling with arketamine (depression) and ibogaine (opioid addiction) research. And to further strengthen their platform approach, the have added IntroSpect Digital Therapeutics to the mix of companies.

Tid-bits to mention at the next board meeting:

• Get Ready for Pharmaceutical-Grade Magic Mushroom Pills (Vice), A deep dive through the discovery of mushrooms to their synthesis into a pharmaceutical
• Pharmadrug Inc. Unveils Roadmap for European Psilocybin Business (Press release/Yahoo), seeing if they can use The Netherlands and the smart shop business as a starting stone for retail psychedelics
• A Canadian investment bank that capitalized on the cannabis rush is now looking toward a new market. (Business Insider), “Eight Capital estimates the total market for mental-health treatment is about $100 billion. It said MindMed‘s 18-MC could win part of the $4 billion market for the treatment of opioid-use disorder”
• Champignon Identifies Synthetic Ketamine and Psilocybin/Psilicin Metabolite Targets (Press release), more IP grabs by companies or possibly a good development in finding more variations on psychedelics
• CB Therapeutics achieved the successful biosynthesis of psilocybin, psilocin (Bussiness Wire), CB Therapeutics think they can make psilocybin more effective than other methods
• Meet The Innovative Psychedelics Incubator By Tabula Rasa Ventures (Bezinga), Tabula Rasa Ventures starts a psychedelics incubator, the excellent Trip Report is skeptical
• Numinus Receives Health Canada Licence Amendment To Produce And Extract Psilocybin From Mushrooms (Press release), and adds Gabor Mate to advisory board
• How to have a safe psychedelic trip (Psyche)
• Sheep-on-ketamine Study Reveals What Happens When You Fall Into A “K-hole” (Inverse), with enough ketamine the brain (partly) shuts down
• UNC to Receive $26.9M from DARPA to Develop Psychiatric Medicines (PSR), “The research will use cutting-edge technology to attempt to remove undesirable side-effects from drugs targeting GPCRs, including the serotonin receptors where psychedelics act.”
• Is MDMA Neurotoxic? (yes if you rave every week, no in clinical and responsible use)