PsyBio Therapeutics Corp (CVE:PSYB) announced Tuesday that it has initiated process development of its proprietary biosynthetic formulation of norbaeocystin in collaboration with the Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts Process Development Unit, a scale-up facility managed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The company noted that norbaeocystin is an analogue of psilocybin and is not a controlled substance. PsyBio said it has commenced Phase I of the formulation process, including analytical chemistry technical transfer to establish detection methods for fermentation products and key feedstocks and metabolites.
READ: PsyBio Therapeutics initiates pilot scale-up of its proprietary biosynthetic formulation of psilocybin
"We are pleased to have moved our second product candidate intended to be utilized in conjunction with psilocybin from the laboratories of Dr. J. Andrew Jones at Miami University to a governmental research facility to begin preparations to scale production of our proprietary biosynthetic norbaeocystin in anticipation for use in clinical trials," said PsyBio CEO Evan Levine in a statement.
"This is a continuation of our endeavors to develop more nature-inspired psychedelic therapeutics with improved characteristics and properties versus monotherapy psilocybin which is currently being studied broadly for potential activity against depression, anxiety, PTSD and substance abuse."
In collaboration with Miami University in Ohio, PsyBio also said it is developing a portfolio of tryptamine-derived therapeutic candidates inspired by plants and fungi with psychedelic properties that are intended to be studied in clinical trials to determine efficacy to improve patient outcomes for a variety of mental health and other disorders.
Utilizing an efficient patent-pending bacterial synthesis process, the company said it intends to deliver the next generation of targeted psychoactive medications. It is expected that PsyBio's method enabling the rapid generation of a highly stable compound will be cheaper, faster, and greener than any other published production method.
"In recent years, psilocybin has been broadly accepted as a therapeutic candidate for a variety of health challenges, however, naturally occurring intermediates in the pathway have not shared similar research attention despite sharing many structural similarities to psilocybin," said J Andrew Jones, chairman of the company's scientific advisory board.
"Our research is based on studying these other metabolites from the biosynthetic pathway to potentially develop superior therapeutics with improved medicinal properties. Through our research collaboration with Dr Matthew McMurray in the psychology department at Miami University and direct access to an in house vivarium, we have been developing and filing intellectual property on tryptamine combinations that have not previously been studied, yet have demonstrated early indications of unique properties that our team is optimizing for intended clinical use."
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