CSIRO, Australia's National Science Agency, Gets In The Psychedelics Space

It’s not every day that a country’s national institute makes public its efforts to get into psychedelics, but today is one of those days.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) announced that it will work with Australian medtech companies to develop new psychedelics and enhance existing ones.

According to a press release by the agency, one in every five Australians experiences some kind of mental health illness, many times not responding to existing treatments, to which psychedelics could bring a new light of hope.

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Many Australian companies are already advancing with psychedelics research, such as Incannex, and in July of last year, the country announced the creation of The Psychae Institute, the objective of which is to advance psychedelics research in Australia.

The agency will start its work with Melbourne-based Natural MedTech, which received funding for research and development through CSIRO’s kick-start program. Mark Hestermann, CEO of that company, explained that “CSIRO’s scheduled poisons license extension will mean that they can legally make the raw material we need to further our research and development of psychedelic molecules with a view to progressing new drugs to clinical trials.”

On behalf of CSIRO, Peter Duggan, an adjunct professor who works as a scientist for the agency, commented: “Clinical trials both here and internationally have been using known psychedelics—usually MDMA or psilocybin (derived from certain species of mushrooms) with impressive results, but there’s still much to be learned about how these drugs work and how improvements to their chemical composition could enhance patient outcomes. By working with local industry to improve drug design and the patient experience, CSIRO can push Australia into a leadership position in the development of these potentially life-changing medications."

Photo: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons