The recent boom in psychedelic research has given way to a large group of startups looking to harness the potential of mind-altering drugs to treat depression, addiction and other conditions.
In this crowded field, Vancouver-based Filament Health has a unique approach: extracting drugs like psilocybin and mescaline from natural sources, including mushrooms and cacti, rather than synthesizing the ingredients in a lab.
Filament is studying the mushroom-based psilocybin as a treatment for opioid and stimulant use disorders.
And more than a dozen other companies and academic centers are using the company’s drugs in tests for depression, chronic pain and other disorders.
Filament CEO Benjamin Lightburn spoke with The Associated Press about the ethical, therapeutic and medical case for using naturally derived psychedelics.
Answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What do you mean by “natural psychedelics” and how are they produced?
A: That means we get it from natural sources, like plants and fungi, because that’s actually how humans have interacted with this substance in its natural form for thousands of years. Only recently have we gained access to synthetic chemical manufacturing techniques.
Since our products come from natural sources, we believe they allow people to maintain a certain connection to the way humans have ingested these substances over the years and to important aspects of many traditional communities.
Vancouver-based Filament Health has a unique approach: extracting drugs from natural sources, including mushrooms, rather than synthesizing ingredients in a lab. Getty Images
Natural products contain more than one active compound, right? So in the case of magic mushrooms, for example, they contain more than just psilocybin. It contains other compounds such as psilocin and a dozen or more other active ingredients.
Just like when you drink a cup of coffee, there is more than just caffeine. There is a whole troupe of different compounds, which in the case of coffee provide flavor, aroma and terroir.
Q: Do you think patients will be able to tell the difference when they take this drug?
A: It is our hypothesis that the presence of these other compounds may contribute to differences or perhaps even improvements in the therapeutic potential of this complex natural mixture. After all, these materials have evolved in nature alongside humans.
Q: Your company also prioritizes ethical and sustainable harvesting of these plants. How it works?
A: The iboga plant, which contains the psychedelic ibogaine, is probably the best example of that in Filament. We have been working with groups in West Africa, in Gabon, where the iboga plant is indigenous and, in fact, is also involved with important cultural practices by the Bwiti people.
So it is very important for us to ensure that any source of supply that is imported from abroad, it is done sustainably, No. 1, of course. And No. 2, that appropriate procedures for informed consent with local indigenous communities are in place and procedures for reciprocity and equitable benefit sharing.
We clearly believe in sharing the benefits of any commercially reproduced product with the local community who, however, have cared for and shepherded this cultural resource for thousands of years.
Q: What are the advantages of all these practices when there are so many competitors in the psychedelic space?
A: We are truly the only ones that focus 100% on natural. And we’ve actually successfully manufactured this product and put it into clinical trials.
There is a ton of interest from different researchers around the world to use our psychedelic drugs. And there’s a lot of interest, I think, from the investment community to fund our own internal drug development.
If you believe psychedelic is a thing that’s here to stay and you believe that people will at least want the option of having a natural psychedelic product, then I think it’s fair to say that Filament will last forever. long distance.
The Associated Press Department of Health and Science receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science and Education Media Group. AP is solely responsible for all content.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
