Mydecine CEO Josh Bartch Speaks on Psilocybin and Smoking Cessation

We’ve spoken with Mydecine Innovation Group (NEO: MYCO) (OTCMKTS: MYCOF) about the exciting possibilities of using psychedelics to treat PTSD and other disorders of addiction. Today, Josh Bartch, co-founder and CEO discusses the possibility of Mydecine using the compounds MYCO-001 and 004 to enable smoking cessation.

Here’s some highlights from the interview.

Roth Capital gives Mydecine a ‘buy’ rating and $3/share price target

For investors who may have missed the news, RCP initiated coverage with a “Buy” Rating and C$3.00 price target. That’s a 916.94% premium to Mydecine’s closing price of $0.295/share before market open on June 22. That’s a projection the company rises 916% higher than its current trading price within the next twelve months.

Mydecine advantage: other smoking cessation drugs in the market dangerous and ineffective

Bartch says that even if you look at an analogous product of MYCO-001, the efficacy data shows rates “astronomically higher” than other anti-smoking drugs on the market. Most drugs meant for smoking cessation, he says, have efficacy rates in the single digits. Psilocybin has shown efficacy rates as high as 85% in a 12 month abstinence study.

Also to their detriment, the currently-available smoking cessation pharmaceuticals come with a long list of side effects at the best of times, including depression, suicidal tendencies, and weight gain. Chantix, one of the current top drugs available for smoking cessation, was also recently voluntarily recalled by Pfizer for containing elevated levels of a cancer-causing substance.

The safety of psilocybin, on the other hand, has been proven. Compared to the pharmaceuticals, it’s also curative; smoking cessation drugs currently commercially available have to be taken over a longer course, or in some cases, even in perpetuity, opposed to a single macro-dose of psilocybin.

Mydecine could still be undervalued, says Bartch

Bartch says that everyone at Mydecine was extremely pleased with the RCP report. Part of RCP’s valuation of Mydecine was based on claiming only half a percent of the total smoking cessation market, which would still give the drug approximately $2.5bn in sales by 2031 – not a small number at all.

RCP’s valuation was also based on MYCO-001 alone. 001 is Mydecine’s purified single molecule of psilocybin, and analogous to a synthetic form except the company retains freedom to operate since there are no patent claims to infringe upon, says Bartch.

MYCO-004 is templated upon 001 and is a refined product. It provides the same experience, but is condensed to about a 2 hour delivery time as opposed to 4-8 hours with pure psilocybin. This makes the molecule much more scalable and applicable to a therapy setting, he adds.

Smoking cessation a huge possible market for Mydecine

Bartch says that to date Chantix has been producing $1.2bn globally in revenue, $900m in the US alone. A smoking cessation drug would only need a very small part of a market pie that’s predicted to be $60bn 2026 to be a huge success.