Mydecine wins Health Canada approval for expanding cultivation capabilities for psilocybin producing mushrooms

Mydecine Innovations Group (NEO:MYCO) (OTCMKTS:MYCOF) (FRA:0NFA) said that it has received approval from Health Canada to “significantly expand” its cultivation capabilities at its current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) facility, at the Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation in Canada. 

The Denver, Colorado-based biopharma company focused on the research and development of alternative nature-sourced medicine, said that it would use the new guidance from Health Canada to expand its cultivation facilities and rapidly scale up the supply of pharmaceutical-grade psilocybin for both its internal clinical research and for its industry partners. 

“The increased cultivation will also allow the company to more efficiently and quickly study the medical utility of naturally occurring psilocybin and psilocybin-like compounds,” said the company. 

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Mydecine said it will also allow the firm to take a “more extensive look into the diversity and undiscovered chemistry of these compounds” and test their effectiveness in treating mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and addiction.

“Nature has produced a diversity of psilocybin producing fungi, all with their own unique chemistry and much of this diversity remains unstudied or undiscovered. The expansion of our cultivation capabilities will give us a unique lens into better understanding this incredible diversity and how it may be utilized in a therapeutic setting,” Mydecine Chief Science Officer Rob Roscow said in a statement.

“It will also enhance our ability to produce pharmaceutical-grade psilocybin at scale and increase our capacity to support our novel drug candidates like MYCO-001 and study its production in nature,” he added.

Roscow noted that clinical use of natural extracts has seen a surge of commercial interest. “Expanding our capabilities to study the cultivation of a multitude of psilocybin producing mushrooms enables incredible intellectual property value and puts us on track for further discoveries of novel molecules and tryptamines,” he added.

Meanwhile, Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation CEO Andrew MacIsaac said the institution through its partnership with Mydecine, had built “a world-class” drug discovery platform.

“Once completed, the expanded facility will have the capability to cultivate various mushrooms in quantities needed for the expanding clinical trial production needs of Mydecine, as well as serve as one of the world’s broadest libraries of legally imported psilocybin producing mushrooms,” added MacIsaac. “Tying this with our significant capacity and research infrastructure and you’ve arguably got the most well-equipped companies in the space to truly move the field forward.”

Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at [email protected]

Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive

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