Mydecine COO Damon Michaels on Canada Cultivation and Mushroom Editing
In early May, we had Mydecine (NEO: MYCO) (OTCMKTS: MYCOF) CSO Rob Roscow on the Dales Report to talk about their 2a clinical trials. Today we have Damon Michaels with us to discuss some of the recent news that’s come out for Mydecine including Health Canada’s approval of the expansion of their cultivation facilities here in Canada.
Here’s some highlights from the first of this two-part interview:
Canadian expansion means that Mydecine has “instant access” and allows them to supply clinical trials says Michaels
With the research facility in place, Michaels says, Mydecine can now take all the mushrooms that they’re producing in Jamaica and go after all the specific compounds that they’re finding in psilocybin and even non-psilocybin containing mushroom species. These compounds, he continues, are very valuable to Mydecine. Not only are they useful from a chemical perspective, they may help with the pharmacology.
With operations ongoing, having the ability to cultivate onsite allows Mydecine the instant access they need to conduct R&D experiments and clinical analytics. This ties into the development of the novel drug compounds. Mydecine requires the purified isolate from natural fungal sources, and this would fill that supply.
The possibility of editing mushrooms
Mushrooms, Michaels says, are not plants. They’re a unique organism. Cannabis has benefited greatly from hybridization techniques to create new species and different profiles, but an approach to change the chemical production of a mushroom might have to be a little different.
Mydecine CSO Rob Roscow, Michaels says, was the first scientist that we know of to successfully apply CRISPR to genetically edit plants. Whether this might apply to mushrooms, Michaels isn’t sure, but he says “…we still have the knowledge and resources to tackle any type of genetic editing we need to do” to enhance the chemical production.
Mydecine facility in Canada probably won’t scale to meet a commercial need, says Michaels
Or at least, it won’t be in the near future. Michaels says there is no real need for considering commercial scale until there’s an approved product on the market. The Canadian facility produces thousands of doses and is currently adequate to supply clinical trials around the world. He does add that as things progress into phase 3 trials, the capacity will be needed to expand and he’s confident that they’ll be ready to meet the demand.
The roadmap for the next 12 months? Proving efficacy and safety – and looking at protocols
Fortunately, a lot of this research has already been conducted through major universities, says Michaels. At least when it comes to efficacy and safety. But as far as proving specific protocols for psychedelic assisted psychotherapy and the administration of the medicines, there’s work to be done.
Nevertheless, the process will help normalize psychedelics, Michaels says, and allow people to gain acceptance.
