- Numinus is the only Canadian publicly traded company licensed by Health Canada to produce/extract psilocybin
- Psilocybin-based drug research is already targeting many major medical treatment markets
- Numinus commenced public trading on May 20th
New psychedelics pubco,
Numinus Wellness Inc (CAN:NUMI / US:LKYSF) is seeking to become one of the industry leaders as psychedelic drug research and commercialization begins to take off.
The company commenced public trading on the TSX Venture Exchange on
May 20, 2020 via an RTO with Salvation Botanicals. Numinus soared out of the starting blocks, trading as high as CAD$1.55 on its initial trading day.
The stock has since pulled back to (as of this writing) to CAD$0.34. For investors, is this a good entry window for Numinus?
The company’s key differentiator with other publicly listed psychedelics is licensing. As of its June 11th news release, Numinus has become the only publicly traded company in Canada to receive Health Canada licensing to conduct research on psilocybin extraction from mushrooms.
With this licensing, Numinus can produce naturally sourced psilocybin for research purposes.
Private company
Compass Pathways is currently conducting a Phase 2b clinical trial on the use of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression. The FDA has designated this as a
“breakthrough therapy”, fast-tracking this R&D.
According to
MAPS (the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies), there are presently
six other clinical studies underway regarding the use of psilocybin, including a general study of its effects on healthy volunteers.
Johns Hopkins University, a leader in psychedelics-based drug research, is currently looking into the use of psilocybin not only for the treatment of depression, but also its potential use as a treatment for opioid use disorder, alcohol use disorder, anorexia nervosa, Alzheimer’s Disease, Lime Disease syndrome and PTSD.
To give its psilocybin R&D some teeth, Numinus has been busy bolstering its science team. This has culminated with Numinus’ June 24th announcement of a Clinical Advisory Council to support its psilocybin drug research.
This Advisory Council includes
addiction specialist,
Dr. Gabor Maté, its
Medical Director,
Dr. Devon Christie, as well as
Dr. Pam Kryskow, physician and clinical instructor at the University of British Columbia,
Zach Walsh, Associate Professor of Psychology at UBC,
Kate Browning an RN who is currently an instructor at Langar College, and
Dr. Jason Marr, a naturopathic doctor who founded Evoke Integration Medicine Ltd.
Together, this provides Numinus with a wealth of medical research and treatment expertise. This ranges from palliative care, drug addiction and substance abuse, chronic-pain management, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, and general mental health issues.
With respect to the business end of operations,
Chairman and CEO Payton Nyquvest is an investment banker who has helped to raise over $100 million for more than 100 public and private companies.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Evan Wood has over 20 years of experience in addiction research. This includes previous collaboration with MAPS is psilocybin-based research.
It’s still very early in the game for the psychedelics industry.
The regulatory landscape is just beginning to open up for psychedelics-based research. Commercialization of psychedelic drugs is in its infancy.
As psychedelics investors seek to separate the contenders from the pretenders, Numinus Wellness offers interesting potential in psilocybin-based drug research.
