Apex Labs doses first patient in Veterans take-home psilocybin drug trial

The development marks a 'watershed moment for psilocybin research' says the company's CEO

Rowan Dunne· Jan 18, 2023
Apex Labs doses first patient in Veterans take-home psilocybin trial
Apex Labs' Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Arron Victory served for 14 years in the Royal Canadian Regiment. Photo via Apex Labs

A Vancouver pharmaceutical company has dosed its first Veteran patient with a GMP-certified synthetic psilocybin drug (APEX-52) in the comfort of their own home.

Apex Labs announced on Wednesday that its Phase 2B trial of APEX-52 had progressed to the patient dosing phase. The trial is aimed at treating anxiety and depression associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the Veterans’ community.

The news follows Apex receiving Health Canada approval for the take-home trial last October in what the company believes is the first clinical trial of its kind in history.

Read more: Apex gets Health Canada approval for Veterans take-home psilocybin drug trial

Read more: Quebec becomes first province to pay doctors for psilocybin-assisted therapy

Apex’s CEO Tyler Powell pointed out last November that the unregulated psilocybin products Veterans’ were consuming to treat mental health issues may have unpredictable potency levels and questionable safety, which is not the case with APEX-52.

“This is a watershed moment for psilocybin research,” said Powell.

“We know Veterans are self-medicating with microdoses of unregulated psilocybin products,” continued Powell, adding that this was the first time a North American patient had taken a pharmaceutical-grade psilocybin drug in the privacy and comfort of their own residence.

Apex Labs says it has reserved the ticker symbol “APEX” with the NEO Exchange and that it currently has the NEO private company ticker symbol “APEXL.” The company has a private shareholder base of more than 300 investors and a recently updated investor deck available for viewing as well.

Follow Mugglehead on Twitter

Like Mugglehead on Facebook

Follow Rowan Dunne on Twitter

rowan@mugglehead.com

More in Health & Science

View all