Optimi Chief Science Officer Preston Chase handles bottles of psilocybin pills ready for export. Article content
Canada has licensed a Vancouver startup to export psychedelics to Australia for patient use, the latest milestone in a contest to supply the potential growth of medical psychedelic drugs.
The federal Health Department awarded a drug establishment licence to Optimi Health Corp., a spokeswoman for the company said, allowing it to ship pills containing the magic-mushroom extract psilocybin and MDMA — controlled and otherwise-illegal substances — to a provider in Australia.
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The small company hopes the certificate will help pave the way to an expanded market for psychedelic drugs as pharmaceuticals while giving it an early-mover advantage.
Seven companies have legally exported psilocybin, MDMA or both from Canada so far, all for clinical trial purposes, a spokeswoman for Canada’s health department said.
She wasn’t able to say if any has ever been exported for regular patient use before. She refused to name the seven companies, citing security reasons.
The milestone puts Optimi among a small club of legal, international suppliers of psychedelic drugs, according to John James (JJ) Wilson, its co-founder and the son of billionaire Lululemon Athletica Inc. founder Chip Wilson.
Optimi’s vision is “to be the largest scalable quality manufacturer made available globally of psilocybin and MDMA,” JJ Wilson said . “The world is taking this more seriously as an alternative to traditional pharmaceuticals, to treat these mental health disorders.”The market today is clinical rather than recreational, Wilson said, downplaying parallels to the legalization of cannabis in Canada and many U.S. states.Article contentArticle contentOptimi’s bet is that, even though magic mushrooms are naturally occurring, demand for a pharmaceutical-grade version of the substance will be robust, and the company will have the credentials and scale to supply it.As it seeks to carve out this niche, refine processes and strike early supply deals, it’s losing more than $1 million per quarter and regularly raising funds, filings show. Chip Wilson, who sits on its advisory board, acquired shares with options worth as much as $3.3 million in late 2022, and since then the company has closed small private placements.To […]
Vancouver firm gets permission to export psilocybin for medical use
