How your next prescription could be mushrooms or ecstasy...

How your next prescription could be mushrooms or ecstasy
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5z0cjc2K4llGE61wVwhvpY?si=ynyAI0_KT9Kn0Z618J1DRw

The psychedelic drugs psilocybin and MDMA, commonly known as magic mushrooms and ecstasy, are being downgraded from prohibited to controlled drugs in Australia from July 1. This means approved psychiatrists will be able to prescribe psilocybin for depression and MDMA for PTSD.

It's a landmark moment in the regulation of psychedelic drugs for treating entrenched mental illness, Rodney Cocks, CEO of Vitura Health joins Jan Fran to explain why.


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Psychedelic drugs to be imported from Canada
Behind the scenes, works are well underway negotiating the logistics of importing medicines previously associated with illicit recreational drug use.

Rodney Cocks is the CEO and co-founder of Vitura Health, an ASX-listed company which operates an online medicinal cannabis platform.

The company is making an early pivot into the psychedelics space.

"Our experience in unregistered medicines and medicinal cannabis is directly relevant to psychedelics … and in the wake of the changes announced in February … we made a strategic choice to move into this area," Mr Cocks said.

The businessman is a former veteran, having served on the counter narcotics team of the British Embassy in Afghanistan.

He said many veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan were struggling with PTSD.
"We're really looking forward to getting these therapies into the hands of the most vulnerable in our community, including veterans, first responders, and those who are suffering treatment-resistant depression," he said.

Last month, his company announced a new joint venture called Cortexa with Canadian drug manufacturer PharmAla Biotech Holdings.

Mr Cocks said the medicines produced by PharmaAla were already being used in clinical trials, and it was expected to be able to supply MDMA and psilocybin to a prescription-ready standard in Australia.

"We're expecting to see the first shipments in the coming weeks," he said.

"That puts us in a position where we can get those therapies out to those patients who need them early in that time once the regulation changes on the first of July."

Mr Cocks said the plan was for Cortexa to eventually manufacture MDMA and psilocybin under a licence in Australia.

"We look forward to removing the complexity of the export-import process, and bringing those onshore to manufacture here in Australia, once there is a sufficient scale to do that."