Filament Health Corp. (OTCQB: FLHLF), a psychedelic drug developer based in British Columbia, successfully shipped a package of its psilocybin drug PEX010 to Western Australia this week.
Little Green Pharma Ltd (ASX: LGP), a medical cannabis company in the country, received the shipment. Little Green’s psychedelic subsidiary Reset Mind Sciences will be using Filament’s proprietary drug for research purposes.
Filament believes that this is the first international shipment of natural psilocybin to be sent to Australia. However, PharmAla Biotech Holdings Inc. (CSE: MDMA) (OTC: PMBHF) made a similar claim last November when it sent of shipment of MDMA and psilocybin to its joint venture partner in the country Vitura Health Limited (ASX: VIT).
“To our knowledge, this is the first legal shipment of a botanical psilocybin drug candidate to arrive in Australia,” Filament Chief Operating Officer (COO), Lisa Ranken, said. “We are pleased to see a natural option being explored by Australian researchers.”
Australia’s Authorized Prescriber Scheme implemented last July enables licensed psychiatrists in the country to prescribe psychedelics to citizens for the treatment of certain conditions. Stakeholders in Australia are currently waiting for the country to finalize regulations governing psilocybin production.
Reset started a clinical trial examining the impact of psilocybin-assisted therapy last week.
“We anticipate this trial, which will be one of the first psilocybin-assisted therapy trials in Australia, will contribute meaningfully to the clinical evidence supporting the use of psilocybin for the treatment of chronic mental illness in Australia,” Reset COO Leon Warne said. It will be conducted at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research in Perth over one year.
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Filament’s Nasdaq listing arrangement falls through
Filament planned to list on the Nasdaq exchange through a strategic arrangement with Jupiter Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ: JAQC), an announcement that received a lot of attention last fall. However, the company announced last month that its deal with Jupiter has been terminated due to complications.
Last year, Filament agreed to supply PEX010 to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for clinical studies being conducted at the University of British Columbia.
The company also received United States Food and Drug Administration approval last summer for clinical research on PEX010 at universities in California and Washington. The studies aim to benefit people suffering from depression and cancer.
Filament chose to license intellectual property associated with its psilocybin drug to Burnaby-based NeoLumina Bioscience last summer as well. NeoLumina aims to use the drug to treat individuals plagued by anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders.
rowan@mugglehead.com
