Psychedelic Industry Update 11/13/19
Can AI find new psychedelics?, Field Trip to Jamaica, Psychedelic Science Summit Panel Watch
If you’re a psychedelic enthusiast and share the excitement, curiosity and cautious optimism about how the Psychedelic Industry will unfold The Trip Report is for you.
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ATAI Life Sciences and Cyclica Launch Joint Venture to Revolutionize Drug Development for Mental Health Disorders
ATAI Life Sciences, the German-based biotech platform with an interest in psychedelic medicine has partnered with Cyclica, a Toronto based “biotechnology company that leverages artificial intelligence and computational biophysics to streamline the drug discovery process” to form Artificial Intelligence aided psychedelic lab, Entheogenix.
“Entheogenix Biosciences Inc, the Delaware-based company jointly-founded as part of the venture, will leverage Cyclica’s proprietary technology to design and synthesize new compounds from psychoactive seed small molecule compounds (SMCs) with the aim of addressing unmet medical needs in mental healthcare, such as those posed by depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.”
“Entheogenic will use seed SMCs that range from existing synthetic compounds to classic psychedelics (e.g. psilocybin and mescaline) to identify and synthesize novel chemical entities that have enhanced effectiveness in both in vitro and in vivo models for mental health disorders.”
This announcement came on the heels of Shayla Love’s article for VICE Can a Trip-Free Psychedelic Still Help People With Depression? which is the first mention of Entheogenix that I’ve noticed.
This is fucking cool.
This is precisely why I started writing about this particular niche.
Here we have two companies, one with expertise in Machine Learning and Biotech and the other that is one of the first to chase the promise of Psychedelic Medicine, coming together to apply AI and hella technical processes to see if they can find new psychedelics. Alexander Shulgin’s wet dream.
Field Trip Ventures To Create First Psilocybin Research Facility In Jamaica
“Field Trip Ventures, the world’s first integrated company in legal psychedelics and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, announced last month that it has developed a strategic partnership with the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Mona, Jamaica to create the world’s first legal research and cultivation facility dedicated to psilocybin-producing mushrooms.”
“The partnership will involve Field Trip Natural Products Limited (Field Trip’s Jamaican subsidiary) constructing, funding, and operating a state-of-the-art research and cultivation facility on UWI’s Mona campus.”
It seems, like the ATAI & Cyclica story, Field Trip is hoping to discover and isolate compounds from psychoactive mushrooms that can become candidates for the development of new drugs.
I don’t think they’re looking to actually grow and produce mushrooms in order to sell to end-users ala the cannabis industry, but rather look for a unicorn in the hundreds of isolatable compounds found in the numerous psychedelic mushroom variety.
“Levy notes that the facility will also focus on other molecules with therapeutic interest and values for psychedelics assisted psychotherapy….Although psilocybin, as a molecule, has been well-studied, there is a great opportunity to create impact by developing a better understanding of the fungi that produce psilocybin and other tryptamines.”
Topics of Interest from the Psychedelic Science Summit
At the 2019 Psychedelic Science Summit in Austin, last weekend the psychedelic community gathered for a series of talks, panel discussions and butthole sniffing that is customary at these types of industry events.
Below are the titles of a few presentations of note that might interest The Trip Report readers as they pertain to the emerging landscape, opportunities and challenges of psychedelic medicine.
- Tim Ferris and Marcela Ot’alorag sat down for a live podcast interview on Becoming a Psychedelic Therapist - a new career that is being created in response to the emerging psychedelic medicine industry. Readers interested in this career may want to check out our series How to Start a Psychedelic Clinic. Part 1 of which discusses training and the first series of opportunities.
PANEL: Considerations for the Mainstreaming of Psychedelics: From Culture to Commercialization
Allison Feduccia, Ph.D., George Greer, M.D., Mellody Hayes, M.D., Brent Turnipseed, M.D., Bia Labate, Ph.D. (Moderator)
PANEL: Psychedelic Policy: Frameworks for Legal Access to Psychedelics
Carlos Plazola, M.E.S., Natalie Ginsberg, M.S.W., (Moderator), Betty Aldworth, Sandor Iron Rope, Jax Finkel
PANEL: What Does the Near Future Hold?
Paul Stamets, Carl Hart, Ph.D., Rick Doblin, Ph.D., Natalie Ginsberg, M.S.W., Betty Aldworth, Liana Gillooly (Moderator)
Looking forward to these talks being available from the MAPS youtube page, hopefully soon.