Psyched: St. Vincent OKs Psychedelics Program, Delic To Go Public, Field Trip Drug Update

Saint Vincent Okays Psychedelic Initiative

The Caribbean country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has approved an initiative to incentivize psychedelic research and wellness. 

The small English-speaking island nation, located about 100 miles north of Venezuela’s coast, has passed a measure that will allow for the “cultivation, research, processing, and prescription of psychedelic plant-based compounds including psilocybin, ibogaine, peyote, ketamine, dimethyltryptamine, ayahuasca and sassafras."

Much like Jamaica, Saint Vincent could become a hub for psychedelic research and psychedelic-assisted therapy clinics, leading to a possible trend of psychedelic retreats in the Caribbean region.

The initiative spun off a willingness to explore the possibilities offered by the country’s vast flora, which includes naturally-occurring psychedelic plants and fungi.

The country has granted three licenses so far to SVG Biomed, Mera Life Sciences and Ajori Health & Wellness. The psychedelic therapy program will be available to people from all nationalities and clinics will be regulated similarly to those in Canada and the United States, said a spokesperson for the SVG Bureau of Standards.

Delic Corp. To Go Public On The CSE

E-commerce and events company Delic Corp., which is focused on the psychedelics industry, announced last week it would be going public on the ‎Canadian Securities Exchange via a reverse takeover (RTO) of Molystar Resources Inc.

Delic was formed in 2019 as an umbrella media platform. It currently includes three subsidiary companies: an e-commerce lifestyle brand named The Delic, a psychedelics news and culture site dubbed Reality Sandwich, and a psychedelic wellness summit called Meet Delic.

When asked about the timing of the transaction, Delic CEO and chair Jackee Stang said the team couldn’t have imagined a better vehicle to help make psychedelic culture accessible to everyone. 

“We can’t point to a time in modern history when the general public needed to be re-introduced to the ancient traditions and new potential healing elements of psychedelic science, medicine, and wellness, more than we do today,” she said. An RTO was the “most sensible” vehicle for Delic and it’s shareholders at this time, she added.

The closing of the RTO will take place by Nov. 30, Benzinga learned. A stock symbol has not been confirmed.

Compass Rings Nasdaq Opening Bell

Compass Pathways CMPS became the first psychedelic company to ring the bell at a major U.S. stock exchange, after going public at Nasdaq in September.

David Wicks, Vice President of Listings at Nasdaq, congratulated Compass for the $147 million IPO raise. He called it “a strong testament to the confidence the investor community places in the company, which is also reflected in the outstanding performance of the share price since the IPO.”

Compass chair and CEO George Goldsmith said that the company’s first priority is to bring its psilocybin therapy to the millions of people who suffer from treatment-resistant depression.

A recording of the live broadcast is available via this link.

Field Trip Reveals Findings From First Drug Candidate

Psychedelics company Field Trip Health Ltd. FTRP FTRPF gave an update related to its proprietary psychedelic drug candidate, FT-104.

The company had previously announced that the compound may have psychedelic properties as it interacts with serotonin 5HT2A receptor, a neuroreceptor that’s related to most classic psychedelic substances.

“FT-104 will likely produce a reliably short-duration of psychedelic experience in the range of two to four hours, which is approximately half the duration of psilocybin,” said Field Trip in the release.

The company is expecting FT-104 to provide similar effects to that of psilocybin, with shorter onset and duration of effects. 

The results, however, come from in-vitro and in-vivo tests. No human trials have yet been conducted. 

This Week’s Milestone Round

Havn Life Gets Natural Products Approved: Havn Life Sciences HAVN announced on Monday it has received approval from Health Canada for six of its natural health product formulations.

The formulations will be based on non-psychedelic functional mushrooms, and will be aimed at improving cognitive function, human performance and immunity.

“Earning these approvals has put us on a path to deliver products by early 2021 and also validates the science behind Havn Life's formulations," said Gary Leong, Chief Scientific Officer of Havn Life.

NeonMind Completes First Functional Mushroom Production: NeonMind Biosciences, a majority-owned subsidiary of Better Plant Sciences Inc. PLNT VEGGF, said Tuesday that it has finished initial production of all four of its Ayurvedic, functional mushroom coffees.

“With this production run successfully completed, we are now prepared to begin consumer testing. We are also lining up distribution and are preparing to begin tests for digital marketing for the website prior to its launch,” said Penny White, CEO of Better Plant.