Oxnard company to pursue therapeutic psychedelics
Oxnard-based Cure Pharmaceutical announced plans on March 16 to use its oral film technology to deliver LSD and other psychedelic substances to treat mental health disorders.
Cure owns the CBD company Sera Labs, and Cure has used its dissolving thin film platform, Curefilm, to deliver CBD and other cannabis compounds.
Cure has a license from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to develop treatments using substances classified under Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act. That includes psychedelics such as LSD; psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in hallucinogenic mushrooms; and MDMA, the pure form of the drug commonly known as ecstasy.
Some of those substances were first developed as psychiatric treatments, and in recent years, researchers, doctors and patients have shown renewed interest in using them in mental health treatment. Oregon legalized psylocibin mushrooms for therapeutic purposes last year and a number of companies are pursuing FDA approval for therapeutic MDMA treatments.
In its March 16 news release, Cure cited a recent study published by Data Bridge Market Research that projected the U.S. psychedelic drug market will grow from $2 billion in 2019 to $6.8 billion in 2027.
Cure plans to study Curefilm as a platform for both microdoses and macrodoses of psychedelics, and expects to pursue Food and Drug Administration approval and commercialization of the products.
“We are dedicated to applying our film technology to leading compounds in high-impact, unmet need areas,” Jonathan Berlent, Cure’s chief business officer, said in the company’s news release. “Advancing these psychedelic product development programs helps ensure our end-goal of targeting those patients who would have otherwise been left without an important treatment option. We plan to advance our programs in a strategic, thoughtful, and fiscally responsible way.”
