The Latest On Psybio Therapeutics: CEO Evan Levine Comments On Maxim Group Buy Rating, European Research, And More
Last week, The Dales Report sat down with Psybio Therapeutics chairman and CEO Evan Levine to discuss what the company will be working on over the summer, and to touch on the importance of Psybio’s intellectual property-based technology.
Specifically, Levine discussed Psybio’s patent-pending bacterial synthesis methodology to develop psilocybin, which he believes does the job cheaper, faster, and greener than other companies in the space. The genesis of the company, he said, is based on its collaboration with Miami University, which first published research in 2019 on the ability to use genetically modified bacteria and convert it into psilocybin.
But Levine says that other compounds including norbaeocystinn, baeocystin, and aeruginascin could also have potential in the emerging industry.
“Psilocybin was really just the first inning of this platform technology,” he said. “We’re developing a whole portfolio of tryptamines from different plants and fungi that we believe could have potential therapeutic benefit for a whole host of different health conditions.”
Levine reflected on the company’s place in the industry, and predicted that the future would see a continuation of the differentiation that is starting to happen among the dozens of companies that have entered the space in the last two years.
“We started off in an industry where there were very few companies, and now I think there are approximately 40 public companies that are using the word ‘psychedelic’ in their business plan,” he said. “I think this is going to very much evolve over the next year.”
Levine said that while companies are often lumped together as “psychedelic,” not all have the same intention or purpose: some are service-based, others are data-driven, or, like Psybio, others still are focused on IP and developing compounds for different therapeutic uses.
Public for just four months, Psybio was recently mentioned by New York investment firm Maxim Group as a company to watch. The firm gave Psybio a ‘buy’ rating with an initial price target of CAD$1.50, according to Levine.
“To already be covered by a venerate institutional analyst dedicated to the biotechnology sector was a huge accomplishment for us,” he said. “We’re very hopeful that more will follow.”
“What we’re doing inside Psybio is very, very different than any of the other biotechnology companies that are in the space. Just as far as magic mushroom as an example, we’re looking holistically at the entire magic mushroom, and we’re developing different compounds that exist within that mushroom beyond psilocybin, that we believe have the ability to offer this therapeutic benefit that’s being experienced.”
Levine said the company intends to file an IND for one of its compounds with the FDA by the end of 2021, with plans to initiate clinical trials in 2022.
With its partners in Europe, Psybio is studying combinatorial psilocybin along with other compounds found in the magic mushroom, including norbaeocystinn, baeocystin, and aeruginascin.
“There is scant literature out there on these other metabolites. Nobody really knows what they do,” he said. “We believe that the portfolio does have an innate synergy, so we’re developing these on a daily basis… dosing animals in different behavioral models.”
Levine said that so far, feedback from investors toward the company’s approach has been positive, especially because they are working in unexplored territory.
He goes into further detail on the company’s IP and its research in the video above. Watch to learn more.
