Psychedelics & Environmental Protection: Company Seeks Patents To Synthetically Produce Toad Venom

Psychedelic therapeutics biotech company PsyBio Therapeutics Corp. PSYBF has filed three additional U.S. provisional patent applications covering its latest discoveries on production of synthetic 5-MeO-DMT, AKA “toad venom” in that this psychedelic substance is naturally produced by a toad species living in the Sonoran Desert.

The announcement directly links to a recent request by the National Park Service explicitly asking its visitors not to lick the toads living in the area. The parks service reported that a widespread use of 5-MeO-DMT could have disastrous effects on the preservation of the Sonoran Desert toads should no other alternatives arise. 

That’s where the PsyBio team comes in. Experienced in drug discovery based on synthetic biology and metabolic engineering as well as in the clinical and regulatory fields, R&D is focused on naturally-occurring psychoactive tryptamines originally discovered in different varieties of hallucinogenic mushrooms, other tryptamines and phenethylamines and combinations. 

The company uses a bio-medicinal chemistry approach to therapeutic development, in which psychoactive compounds are used as a template upon which to develop precursors and analogs, both naturally and non-naturally occurring.

"The call for a synthetic alternative for 5-MeO-DMT highlights the intrinsic potential value of PsyBio's platform technology as it facilitates the biosynthetic production of these types of molecules. Biosynthesis is a more environmentally sound, faster, and cost-effective way to manufacture these types of molecules than chemical synthesis without endangering any species of toad or other natural creature," stated the company’s CMO and CSO Dr. Michael Spigarelli. 

Specifically, the three new provisional patent applications involve advancements in production methodology, host strains and processes of production further supporting and allowing PsyBio's novel production platform methodology to be patent-protected including IP protection for the biosynthetic production of 5-MeO-DMT. 

"PsyBio has long been interested in protecting the environment by developing biosynthetic methodology that we believe is less toxic and safer to all species that share our planet,” explained CEO Evan Levine who added that other companies offering alternatives to directly accessing the psychedelic substance from the toad seem to agree on. 

"With these provisional application filings, PsyBio furthers its leadership role within this field ensuring intellectual property protection, critical for PsyBio and ultimately important for our investors as well as the environment," concluded Levine.

Photo by Megan M on Unsplash