Red Light Holland Exports Psilocybin For Research, Microdosing Capsules And More News From This Canadian Company

Montreal-based GMP pharmaceutical laboratory CCrest Labs, an R&D collaborator of Ontario-based mushroom company Red Light Holland Corp. TRUFF, has received a fifth psilocybin import permit to its Canadian controlled drugs and substances dealer’s license. 

The new permit enables CCrest to import 5kg of Red Light Holland's natural psilocybin truffles grown on its farm in the Netherlands.

Business Focus: Psychedelic Projects

Red Light produces, grows and sells both functional mushrooms and home-grow kits in North America and Europe as well as premium psilocybin truffles to the recreational market in the Netherlands. 

The company's collaboration with CCrest Labs has spawned a dehydrated, homogenized psilocybin microdosing product from its Dutch naturally-occurring psilocybin truffles. 

These natural psilocybin microdosing products have passed four months of tests, confirming the stability of psilocybin. The results followed the completion of a certificate of analysis confirming the products are medical-grade quality, free of any pesticides, bio-contaminants or heavy metals, reported Red Light.

The new, larger psilocybin truffles import is expected to allow the company to further its R&D program, specifically on developing clinical-grade psilocybin drug products extracted from Red Light Holland’s naturally occurring psilocybin truffles, with the help of newly-hired consultant firm MDXX-class molecules developer PharmAla Biotech Holdings MDXXF. 

This one-year collaboration will seek regulatory approval to sell the aforementioned standardized doses of natural psilocybin products to clinical trials, government-approved access programs and emerging markets. 

The agreement also includes the provision that, upon completion of the drug product to specification, PharmAla and Red Light may enter into a sales agreement, where PharmAla would sell the products or provide them to its affiliates in global markets as Red Light's exclusive sales agent.

Red Light CEO Todd Shapiro says the company remains "absolutely committed" to continue growing the psychedelic side of its business. 

"We are using our continuous source of data collection through customer psilocybin usage from our Netherland’s farm-grown products (iMicrodose and Maka) which are then sold by our distribution company (SR Wholesale) to advocate for wider spread legalization. In the Netherlands, our magic truffle Farm had a record year in sales and we remain focused on increasing both magic truffle production and sales including our efforts of increased sales in our Mush Room and More retail shops in OSS and Utrecht," said Shapiro.

"Mushrooms continue to be hot. Our holistic approach, infrastructure, distribution channels, consumer packaged goods, retail experience and overall farming knowledge positions us to be leaders in these growing categories for both legal consumption and health and wellness. At the end of the day whether you’re a shiitake, an oyster, a lion’s mane mushroom or a psilocybin-based mushroom – the science is proving there are benefits for both mind and body health," he added.

PharmAla CEO Nick Kadysh echoed the vision, acknowledging that, with the rapid evolution of the psychedelic drug products market, as much as clinicians have shown a "significant preference" for synthetic drugs (including LaNeo MDMA,) there is also "a powerful consumer preference" for naturally derived products. 

Non-Psychedelic Mushroom Endeavors

In January, Red Light announced the launch of its fresh mushroom sales division. New SR Wholesale North America is expected to help expand the company's offerings and market presence, focused on the sale of high-quality and sustainably-grown fresh mushrooms sourced from its partner farms (local, family-run Holburne and F&R) to the North American market.

Red Light CEO Todd Shapiro says partners Holburne and F&R mushroom farms have a proven track record of delivering top-quality mushrooms. "We are confident that this new division will provide consumers with an exceptional range of fresh and premium mushroom products as we concentrate on near-term revenue growth with the launch of SR Wholesale in North America.”

Mushrooms would eventually also be supplied by Red Light's Peterborough farm, once construction commences: the company recently received a construction permit that enables the building of an 80,000 sq. ft. vertical exotic mushroom farm and composting facility.

The company believes this new "multi-million dollar" production facility will increase its farm's mushroom production output "by approximately 15-18 million dollars of domestic and international annual sales." 

Specifically, Red Light predicts the facility will be able to produce more than 15,000 tons of mushroom compost annually, leading to more than 7,500,000 pounds of fresh mushrooms per year.

Expected to be completed by the fall of 2024, the farm build is also expected to create jobs in Peterborough, Ontario where "a wonderfully supportive agriculture community" stands, according to Shapiro.

Photo: Benzinga edit with photo by anaterate and sergeitokmakov on Pixabay.