Psyched: Cybin Debuts On NYSE, Nonprofits In Psychedelics Space Reach New Milestones, Filament Receives Psilocybin Patent

Cybin Debuts On The NYSE

Last week, Cybin CYBN began listing its stock on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company is the first in the sector to enter the NYSE, following a trend of five psychedelics companies to debut on the Nasdaq since the beginning of the year.

“This validation by the NYSE is incredibly humbling,” said Cybin CEO Doug Drysdale in an exclusive interview with Benzinga. He added that the listing provides a real opportunity for increased awareness as well as for growing the company’s shareholder base, especially among retail investors.

Cybin will continue to offer its shares in Canada through the NEO Exchange and uplist its U.S. OTC shares (formerly under the symbol OTCQB: CLXPF) to the NYSE American.

Last Tuesday, the company closed an overnight public offering of approximately 10 million shares, which raised CA$34 million ($27 million). To date, Cybin has raised over $95 million and has a market cap of around $400 million.

On its last earnings call, Cybin announced cash and cash equivalents totaling CA$64 million ($51 million) as of March 31, 2021. While the current cash position is not available, it is estimated that the company holds south of $78 million minus operational spendings since late March.

The CEO said the company is very well capitalized for “many years into the future.”

TheraPsil Drafts Regulation For Psilocybin Use In Canada

TheraPsil, the British Columbia-based nonprofit working to expand therapeutic access of psilocybin, wrote a 165-page proposal outlining a possible regulation that would create a framework for medical psilocybin in consultation with a healthcare provider as well as access regulated psilocybin products.

The organization sent the proposal to Health Canada director general Jennifer Saxe. 

To date, TheraPsil has supported at least 28 patients and 19 healthcare professionals in receiving Section 56 exemptions for psilocybin use. These exemptions currently need to be granted by the Health Minister herself.

According to CBC Canada, the document approaches every aspect of a legal psilocybin ecosystem, including licensing growers and sellers, quality control, security and packaging. 

The draft also includes provisions for at-home cultivation.

Fireside Project Launches App For Psychedelics Peer Support

The Fireside Project, a nonprofit running the first-ever psychedelics peer support line, has launched a free app to facilitate its main service.

Reachable in the U.S. via telephone: 623-473-7433 (6-2FIRESIDE), Fireside provides free

confidential peer support by phone and text for people having psychedelic experiences or for those wanting help to make sense of a past experience. 

A mobile app, now available and free to download for iPhone and Android, will fulfill the function of “making it easier for people to remember the support line exists, and to reach out in their times of need.”

The app allows users to call or text volunteers directly, making the line easier to reach during an altered state of consciousness.

Also, starting October, the line will expand from five to seven days a week, adding 32 additional hours of service. 

Usona Institute Breaks Ground On New Campus

The Usona Institute, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit currently carrying out Phase 2 clinical trials on psilocybin for depression, announced the groundbreaking of a 93,000-square-foot facility on 17 acres in Madison, Wisconsin.

The building will share a site with Promega Corp., a biotechnology company run by Usona co-founder Bill Linton.

The NGO currently has more than 25 employees and satellite offices in California and Germany.

The facility will cost around $60 million and is expected to begin occupancy in 2024. It will house training, education and the development of future science-based therapies upon FDA approval of the institute’s programs. 

Some estimates put approval for Usona’s program on psilocybin-based psychotherapy as soon as 2025.

Three Additional U.S. Cities Are Considering Decriminalizing Psychedelics

Easthampton, Massachusetts; Grand Rapids, Michigan and Arcata, California are currently exploring avenues to reduce criminal penalties for psychedelics use, Marijuana Moment reported.

All three jurisdictions share borders with other cities that have already passed decriminalization resolutions, including Oakland and Santa Cruz in California, Ann Arbor, Michigan as well as three Boston suburbs in Massachusetts.

In Grand Rapids, a city commissioner told a local newspaper that there’s “likely enough support among Grand Rapids elected officials to decriminalize the use, possession, growing and gifting of psychoactive plants and fungi.” 

The commissioner, Kurt Reppart, said he expects a resolution to be introduced and likely approved this fall.

In Easthampton, three city councilors are sponsoring a resolution that could decriminalize a host of psychedelic substances as did neighboring Northampton in April 2021.

Meanwhile, the city council of Arcata in northern California will vote on a resolution to remove penalties on natural psychedelics this coming August 18.

Filament Health Receives First Patent For Psilocybin Extraction In Canada

Filament Health Corp. (NEO Exchange: FH), an exclusively natural psychedelic drug discovery and extraction company, has been issued a patent by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office for the “extraction and standardization of natural psilocybin and associated psychoactive compounds.”

According to the company, the patent describes technology for transforming variable raw materials into pharmaceutical-grade standardized extracts.

"We are proud to lead the industry with this first issued natural extraction patent. This approval represents important progress in the development of our intellectual property," Benjamin Lightburn, Filament CEO said.

With an aim to replace synthetic formulations of psilocybin, the company’s technology is meant to overcome crop-to-crop and flush-to-flush variability by standardizing a stable dose of psilocybin from its natural fungal source.

The Milestone Round

Silo Wellness SILO SILFF announced a distribution agreement with Essex-based U.K. brand distributor LocoSoco Group Plc for the distribution of the company's Marley One functional mushroom product in the British isles.