Compass Pathways Files for U.S. IPO

Psilocybin Alpha:

UK psychedelic medicine startup Compass Pathways has filed to go public via a U.S. IPO under the ticker CMPS.

The Company, which was launched around four years ago, recived early funding from Peter Thiel: co-founder of PayPal and early investor in Facebook. Compass’ largest shareholder is ATAI Life Sciences.

Now, the Company is seeking to go public in the U.S., in order to fund their studies of psychedelic substances such as psilocybin in the treatment of mental health issues.

The Company is already active in conducting clinical trials, including a large trial of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression. The radnomised controlled phase 2b study of psilocybin therapy is being conducted at 20 sites across Europe and North America.

This is one of the most anticipated IPOs in the space, other than that of the parent company ATAI which many investors are eager to see materialise.

While several psychedelic companies have already entered the Canadian stock market, it looks like Compass Pathways will end up being the first one to go public on a U.S. stock market. This is exciting news to many people, but it comes with a heavy dose of controversy. In addition to being backed by Peter Thiel, the company has also done a lot of things that have been concerning to the psychedelic community.

Regardless, this is probably just the beginning of psychedelic companies on U.S. stock markets like the NASDAQ, and we’re likely to see even more follow suit shortly.

---

Post Permalink

House to Vote on Historic Marijuana Legalization Bill Next Month

Kyle Jaeger, writing for Marijuana Moment:

The House will be voting on a comprehensive marijuana legalization bill in September, congressional leadership confirmed on Friday.

While the floor vote has not yet been scheduled, Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) said in an email blast to members that the chamber is “expected” to take up the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act during the “September work period.” […]

The MORE Act would federally deschedule cannabis, expunge the records of those with prior marijuana convictions and impose a federal five percent tax on sales, revenue from which would be reinvested in communities most impacted by the drug war.

It would also create a pathway for resentencing for those incarcerated for marijuana offenses, as well as protect immigrants from being denied citizenship over cannabis and prevent federal agencies from denying public benefits or security clearances due to its use.

Following up on last month’s initial announcement, it looks like the U.S. House of Representatives is planning to move forward with voting to legalize cannabis next month. This is enormous news; let’s hope it passes.

---

Post Permalink

LSD Microdosing Study for Pain Reports "Remarkable" Results

Rich Haridy, writing for New Atlas:

An incredible, first-of-its-kind trial testing the pain-killing properties of LSD microdoses has delivered the compelling suggestion that tiny, non-psychedelic doses of this infamous drug could serve as an effective analgesic. […]

The double-blind, placebo-controlled trial recruited 24 healthy subjects, each of whom took part in four separate experimental sessions, separated by at least five days. Three different LSD microdoses were tested (five, 10, and 20 micrograms) alongside a placebo.

During each experimental session, the subjects completed a Cold Pressor Test (CBT) [sic] at two time points following dosing: 90 minutes after and five hours after. The test basically involves plunging one’s hand into a tank of water at 3 °C (37.4 °F). Pain tolerance is measured by combining the amount of time one can hold their hand in the cold water, with a series of subjective ratings regarding painfulness.

The researchers described the results of the study as “remarkable”, with the 20-µg-dose group revealing prolonged improvements to pain tolerance compared to both lower doses and placebo. The results were sustained across both time points suggesting the analgesic effect is just as prominent five hours later as it is within the first 90 minutes.

Microdosing LSD for pain relief. What’ll they think of next?

---

Post Permalink

Ayahuasca Researcher Dr. Jordi Riba Passes Away

Jasmine Virdi, writing for Chacruna:

On August 14, 2020, the world bid farewell to scientific pioneer, Dr. Jordi Riba. The untimely death of the Catalan ayahuasca researcher has come as a harsh blow to the close-knit ayahuasca community the world over.

Born on September 12, 1968, in Barcelona, Spain, Riba acquired a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the University of Barcelona in 1993. He went on to complete his doctorate in pharmacology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) in 2003. Riba was undoubtedly one of the most prolific researchers in the field, having devoted well over two decades of his life to unveiling the mysteries of ayahuasca. He published nearly 80 scientific articles, was an active speaker at conferences throughout Europe, the United States, and Latin America, and was considered a preeminent academic exploring the clinical uses of ayahuasca.

Among his most notable contributions was Riba’s success in conducting the world’s first controlled clinical trial with ayahuasca and the first neuroimaging studies with the brew. His pioneering understanding of the mechanistic and therapeutic potentials of ayahuasca, alongside other psychoactive substances like 5-MeO-DMT, salvinorin-A, and cannabinoids, were key in validating investigations into these previously stigmatized substances.

I was previously unaware of Dr. Jordi Riba’s work, and perhaps you were too. He contributed so much to ayahuasca research that it’s a shame I didn’t hear about him before his death, but it’s good to know about his work now.

---

Post Permalink

Oakland Plant Medicine Church Gets Raided by Local Police

Mary Carreon, with a shocking story for DoubleBlind:

At 1 pm on Thursday, August 13, Zide Door—an entheogenic church in Oakland, California, that recognizes cannabis and psilocybin mushrooms as religious sacraments—was raided by Oakland Police Department (OPD) during parishioner visiting hours.

In 2004, Oakland voters passed Measure Z, making cannabis the lowest priority for law enforcement. Oakland also happens to be one of the several localities around the United States leading the psychedelic reform movement. In June 2019, activist group Decriminalize Nature convinced the city council to pass a resolution to make entheogenic plants and fungi the lowest priority for Oakland law enforcement, while defunding police action targeted at those cultivating, foraging, or giving away these substances.

Like the article says, Oakland decriminalized psychedelic plants and fungi last year. So why was Zide Door raided?

“The only activities covered under the resolution are grow, gather, gift—not a store front,” explains Carlos Plazola, chair of the board of Decriminalize Nature. Moreover, while the resolution was modeled after Measure Z, it does not actually cover cannabis—since cannabis, already, is encompassed by another set of state and local regulations.

And what’s more, the search warrant for Zide Door didn’t even mention psilocybin mushrooms, but only mentioned cannabis. Plazola suspects that other dispensaries in the area may have tipped off the police to Zide Door because it was operating without a permit. Hodges argues, however, that Zide Door didn’t need a commercial cannabis license because it was a church—not a dispensary. “It’s not possible to get a state permit to do what we do.”

According to Oakland officials, the police raided Zide Door because they saw it as a cause for an uptick in shootings in the area. But Hodges sees it differently: Across the street from Zide Door is an illegal gambling hall, where shootings have gone down. In fact, he says he didn’t even know the gambling hall was there until OPD asked him for outdoor surveillance footage that might have captured those shootings.

Indeed, the Zide Door raid has taken place amidst a tenuous moment for Oakland in regard to local crime. Legal cannabis retailers have been “under siege” of violent robberies—including the murder of a 33-year-old woman during an attempted robbery at an alleged legal dispensary—as recently as July 17, 2020. Since the riots in early June, dispensaries have experienced a massive spike in vandalism, in addition to robberies.

So according to Oakland police, Zide Door is an illegal cannabis dispensary, not a psychedelic church, and thus it is running afoul of the laws regulating cannabis in California. If you ask me, that’s quite a loose interpretation of what’s going on, but either way it’s going to be interesting to follow this case to see what happens.

---

Post Permalink