Little Green Pharma Ltd (ASX: LGP) has been granted a Schedule 9 licence to supply psilocybin from the WA Department of Health.
The Licence grants LGP the right to supply psilocybin to eligible licence holders under the Medicines and Poisons Act 2014 (WA). Currently classified as a Schedule 9 drug, psilocybin induces a psychedelic state through its action on the brain’s 5HT-2A serotonin receptors and when combined with psychotherapy, is the subject of extensive global research for the treatment of mental illness.
The treatment programme is known as “psychedelic assisted psychotherapy” and is being applied to various mental health conditions including depression, PTSD and anxiety.
LGP has been extensively investigating global developments in psychedelic medicine and the evolving regulatory and policy environment in Australia including through a special purpose subsidiary formed for this purpose.
In April 2021, Shaun Duffy was appointed as the subsidiary’s CEO and has been vigorously advancing LGP’s strategy in this space. Mr. Duffy is a former Senior Managing Director with FTI Consulting and the head of that firm’s Australian Strategic Communications practice and member of its Australian Leadership Group.
Mr Duffy has also provided strategy consultancy and corporate advisory services to LGP since 2020. The grant of a Schedule 9 licence for psilocybin clears a major hurdle for LGP to enter this field.
LGP has an extensive history producing and managing Schedule 9 drugs through its current cannabis operations. It intends to leverage its existing significant investment in cultivation and drug manufacturing infrastructure in Western Australia, as well as its experience and expertise in botanical drug-based products, to cultivate psilocybin mushrooms for use in medical research.
The company is currently engaged in extending its GMP licence to cover psilocybin manufacture. LGP is also deeply engaged with the West Australian medical research community and is well advanced in planning to sponsor a ground-breaking Perth based clinical trial into psilocybin assisted psychotherapy.
In addition, Dr Stephen Bright has joined the LGP subsidiary’s Clinical Advisory Board as its foundation member. Dr Bright is a clinical psychologist, the co-founder and Vice President of PRISM (an entity dedicated to the advancement of psychedelic research) and a Senior Lecturer in Addiction at Edith Cowan University.
Dr Bright is a prominent and highly respected voice in the field of psychedelic medicine.
LGP Managing Director Fleta Solomon said
“The field of psychedelics is a logical fit with our long term stated goals of solving real patient problems and transforming their lives,” LGP Managing Director Fleta Solomon said.
“We have developed so much experience over the years through the cannabis industry and we genuinely believe we can now bring that to bear on the development of the psychedelics field in Australia. The existing investment in our West Australian cannabis cultivation and manufacturing facility means we can meaningfully enter the field with minimal incremental capital spend.”