Psyched: First Psychedelics ETF Comes To The US, Bills Move Forward In Texas, California and New York

Psychedelics ETFs Are Gaining Traction

Defiance ETFs launched the “Next Gen Altered Experience ETF,” the first U.S.-listed ETF that zeroes in on the psychedelics industry.

The fund went public on the NYSE Arca exchange under the ticker “PSY,” carrying net assets of around $2.59 million distributed between psychedelics and cannabis companies.

A passive ETF, PSY follows the BITA Medical Psychedelics, Cannabis and Ketamine Index.

Sylvia Jablonski, CIO of Defiance, said the companies included need to fulfill the minimum requirements established by SEC regulations for ETFs in the U.S., thus a number of low market-cap companies had to be left out.

“We have every pure company that does psychedelics research in our ETF that has a 70 million market cap and a five hundred average daily volume,” said Jablonski, speaking on a panel at the virtual Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference on Friday.

PSY carries 21 companies, out of which 35% are psychedelics companies, including Compass Pathways CMPS, MindMed MNMD, Numinus NUMI Cybin CYBN CLXPF, Field Trip Health FTRP FTRPF and Red Light Holland TRIP TRUFF. The remaining 65% is covered by companies in the medical cannabis space.

“As soon as other [psychedelics] companies get further investment and to a point where they can comply with the rules, we’re definitely going to include them. Our goal is to have the purest psychedelics ETF out there,” Jablonski said.

Horizons Psychedelics ETF Gets a Restructuring: Horizons announced changes to the index methodology for its North American Psychedelics Index, which will take place on June 7.

The index, which is followed by the Horizons Psychedelic Stock Index ETF PSYK, namely the first psychedelics ETF to go public, is upsizing many of its entry requirements in order to “enhance diversification while improving the size and liquidity” of its constituents.

Some of the requirements being altered for new entrants include an increase in the minimum float market-cap from CA$25 million ($20.6 million) to CA$40 million ($33.1 million), an increase in the minimum 3-month average daily traded value from CA$125,000 to CA$300,000 and a minimum share price going from CA$0.10 to CA$0.50.

Psychedelics Legislation Moves Forward in Texas, California and New York

A bill to expand research on psychedelic medicine was approved by the Texas legislature and is headed to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature.

HB 1802 directs the Department of State Health Services and Texas Medical Board to conduct a study that evaluates the therapeutic efficacy of psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine in the treatment of mental health disorders and other medical conditions in partnership with Baylor College of Medicine.

Ailments taken into account include depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, chronic pain and migraines, though the legislation places special focus on veterans suffering from PTSD.

In California, a bill to remove penalties on psychedelic substances was approved by the state senate in a 21-16 vote on Wednesday.

“We just had a huge win. SB519 passed the full state senate, and is now on its way to the assembly,” said the bill’s author, Sen. Scott Wiener.

If approved, the bill would remove penalties for the possession, personal use and social sharing of certain natural and synthetic psychoactive drugs including psilocybin, psilocin, DMT, ibogaine, mescaline, LSD, ketamine and MDMA.

The original legislation included measures to expunge the criminal records of those charged with low-level psychedelics convictions. However, the approved bill was amended to remove those provisions.

Meanwhile, in New York, Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal has introduced a bill that would require the state to research the therapeutic effects of psychedelic substances.

The bill would establish a psychedelic research institute and a therapeutic research program to study and provide recommendations on the use of psychedelic substances in the treatment of addictive disorders, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, end-of-life anxiety and other ailments.

Rosenthal had introduced separate legislation in March, which could remove psilocybin and psilocin from the list of controlled substances in New York.

The Milestone Round

Albert Labs, a psychedelics company using real-world evidence data to accelerate psychedelics research, announced it had begun initial applications with the CSE to go public via an RTO with ME Resource Corp.

Silo Wellness Inc. SILO announced a binding letter of intent with Mushe Inc. to open the first legal functional and psychedelic mushroom store in the Americas. Based in Jamaica, the “smart shop” would leverage Silo’s mushroom cultivation capabilities in the Caribbean country, as well as the country’s lack of prosecution laws for psilocybin and “magic mushrooms.”

Mindset Pharma Inc. MSET MSSTF has selected its lead clinical candidate, MSP-1014, to move forward into good manufacturing practice (cGMP), compliant manufacturing and investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies. MSP-1014, a psilocybin analog, has shown superior preclinical characteristics in head-to-head comparison with psilocybin including increased safety and efficacy, Mindset CEO James Lanthier explained.

COMPASS Pathways CMPS released further results from a recent phase I study on its proprietary psilocybin formulation showing that the compound had no negative effect on cognitive function.

Filament Ventures Corp., an exclusively natural psychedelic drug discovery and extraction company, announced a CA$10 million ($8.2 million) offering related to its future listing on the NEO exchange under the symbol “FH.” Proceeds will be used to fund clinical trials, R&D, intellectual property initiatives, working capital and other purposes. Approximately 20 million units will be sold at a price of between CA$0.40 to CA$0.50 per unit.