Psyence Biomedical Ltd. issued a statement welcoming the results of a recent study finding evidence that nature-derived psilocybin may be demonstrably more therapeutic than synthetic psilocybin. Published on February 20, 2024, in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, the study was conducted by a research team from Hebrew University, and supervised by Professor Bernard Lerer, MD, Executive Director of the Hadassah Brain Labs and Center for Psychedelic Research. The study presents evidence that nature (mushroom)-derived psilocybin delivers a more potent and prolonged effect on neuroplasticity than its synthetic analog.
Neuroplasticity is increasingly recognized as the gold standard by which the therapeutic efficacy of psychedelic pharmaceutical medicines can be measured. The study in mice also suggests that a potential combination of molecules that the study refers to as the entourage effect may provide enhanced or prolonged therapeutic effects not found in synthetic psilocybin. Palliative Care is a holistic and integrative medical specialty that provides patients who have received a life-limiting diagnosis with treatment for their emotional, physical, or spiritual distress or discomfort.
While most psychedelic companies research synthetic psilocybin, Psyence Biomed stands alone as the only Nasdaq traded biopharmaceutical company to research a nature-derived psilocybin candidate to treat Adjustment Disorder in the context of Palliative Care. Psyence Biomed has recently received ethics approval for the trial protocol for its Phase llb clinical trial to move forward. It is expected that the first patients will be randomized in the second quarter of 2024, with topline results available in 2025.
The Psyence Biomed study will examine the use of nature-derived psilocybin as a treatment for Adjustment Disorder due to a recent cancer diagnosis in the Palliative Care context.