- For the past 50 years, psilocybin (the active compound in “magic mushrooms”) has been viewed as a dangerous drug with no therapeutic value.
- Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry has failed to create good drugs for treating mood disorders, such as depression, anxiety, compulsive disorders, and addiction. The leading products have long onset times, severe side-effects, and poor efficacy.
- Failure in the pharmaceutical industry, combined with a lack of research and development in the psilocybin field, has resulted in a longstanding unmet need for products that effectively treat mood disorders without terrible side-effects.
- Recent research indicates that psilocybin is safe and effective for treating mood disorders. However, the psilocybin field lacks purposefully engineered products that are formulated to provide consistent and reliable dosages and effects.
- Better treatments for mood disorders can be created by improving psilocybin chemistry — namely shifting our focus from (a) “magic mushrooms” to (b) the active molecules in those mushrooms.
- First, we need to fully characterizes all of the pharmacologically active psilocybin derivatives present in the fungal fruiting bodies — not just psilocybin. Second, we need to understand how those molecules work individually. Third, we need to explore synergistic combinations of psilocybin derivatives with other molecules.