Latest Psychedelics Deals: Optimi Supplies Australia, Awakn Partners Licensing In California

Optimi Health Enters Australian Medical Psychedelics Market Via Mind Medicine Australia

Health Canada-licensed psychedelics producer Optimi Health Corp. OPTHF has inked a long-term distribution agreement with non profit Mind Medicine Australia (MMA) for the supply of its proprietary MDMA as well as its GMP-grade psilocybin capsules.

Optimi will export the substances to Australia by July 1, 2023, the date in which authorized psychiatrists will be able to start prescribing MDMA for PTSD and psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD) following the country’s new regulations.

The incoming supplies will be coordinated through a network of pharmacists in each Australian state and territory, with the possibility of adding additional doses as determined by market demand on an ongoing basis.

Optimi will allocate a percentage of product sales to a fund managed by MMA with the mission of assisting low-income earners and others who see their access limited.

Optimi CEO Bill Ciprick says the international distribution agreement represents a “historic milestone” in the psychedelic industry as it is “the first step in fulfilling a higher humanitarian purpose, one which our founders fully support in terms of providing a scalable and affordable product that is accessible to all Australians,” crediting MMA leaders Tania de Jong and Peter Hunt's efforts to make psychedelic-assisted therapy accessible.

MMA chair Peter Hunt said the substances’ reclassification and increasing global interest have generated a “steady stream” of inquiries from doctors, psychiatrists, academics, prospective patients and ordinary citizens as to “how and from where” these medicines can reach patients by July 1. 

Hunt says MMA was looking to establish a long-term partnership with a company that manufactures its products in-house with its own license. “Supply stability is key, and Optimi is the clear leader in that category as the only end-to-end supplier,” he concluded.

Optimi co-founders JJ Wilson, Dane Stevens and Bryan and Jacob Safarik along with senior advisor Chip Wilson are pledging the company’s full operational support and believe that being engaged with an organization such as MMA to provide patient access to these medicines for a jurisdiction of tens of millions of people is “a tremendous validation of the objectives and values with which Optimi Health was founded” and called it “a responsibility of the highest order.” 

“We believe our position as a true end-to-end manufacturer of GMP psychedelic medicines allows us to effectively respond to the call for safe supply from MMA.”

Awakn’s Fourth Licensing Partnership Agreement In North America With California-Based Addiction Clinic

Awakn Life Sciences Corp. AWKNF, the biotech psychedelics company focused on addiction and specifically on Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD,) has signed its fourth licensing partnership agreement in North America with California-based addiction treatment facility Ken Starr MD Wellness Group. 

This constitutes the first licensing partnership Awakn signed with a dedicated addiction treatment provider. The company will provide the center’s practitioners with access to and training for its proprietary AUD-specific treatment protocol Awakn Kare in exchange for a fee and a revenue share per treatment.

See also: Can Ketamine Treat Alcohol Addiction? The Awakn Approach

Awakn’s head of US commercial development Kevin Lorenz said the company is poised to partner with Ken Starr and his team, “who are seasoned veterans in the addiction treatment industry. 

“From Awakn’s perspective expanding our U.S. reach to the west coast and to include such an important market as California is another major milestone for our program, but most importantly we can offer this new more effective treatment to a whole new cohort of people who are in such desperate need,” he added

Addiction specialist, Dr. Ken Starr shared his enthusiasm for the new partnership. The clinic has been providing intravenous NAD+ and ketamine services for the last several years, both of which have shown “tremendous promise in the addiction medicine space.” Starr said he hopes Awakn’s support and leadership will work towards help changing “ever more lives.”

Photo: Benzinga edit with photo by Wikimedia Commons and Pexels.