Treatment of a host of mental issues, like obsessive-compulsive disorder, PTSD, opioid addiction, alcoholism, depression, anxiety, and eating disorders, using either functional (i.e. edible) or psychedelic (i.e. psilocybin or "magic") mushrooms is on the threshold of becoming the next billion-dollar industry. That being said, there are only a half dozen companies doing research and development in this sector which is in its infancy but that number is increasing monthly. 

Anxiety disorders, for example, are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 18% (i.e. 40 million adults) of the population.. Anxiety is treatable, but many of the approved drugs are highly addictive and are accompanied by side effects, which contributes to only about 40% of those suffering from anxiety receiving treatment so it is safe to say that there are ample market opportunities for a safe and effective new treatment for weight control and anxiety. In addition, over 1.9 billion people 18 years and older, nearly 40% of all the adults in the world, are overweight. That large figure equates to a weight management market estimated by Grandview Research to grow to $442.3 billion by 2025.

At the beginning of 2020, there were only 6 small biopharmaceutical companies listed on any of the Canadian or American stock exchanges that were involved in the medicinal mushroom sector. By the end of September, that number had increased to 8 and to 12 as of October 19th. To provide insights into the progress of this fledgling sector's growth we have created the Medicinal Mushroom Stock Index to track each constituent's stock price performance. Below is a brief introduction to each company and their performance yesterday (October 28th) which illustrates the extreme volatility being exhibited by most of the constituents. (For more detailed information read Introducing The "Medicinal Mushroom" Stock Index.)

Sector Performance for Wednesday and Thursday (All prices in USD)

1. New Wave (TRMNF) -25.0% to $0.03
2. Greenstar (GTSIF) -25.0% to $0.03
3. Silo Pharma (SILO) -20.0% to $0.20
4. Champignon (SHRMF) -16.2% to $0.31
5. Havn (HAVLF) -13.7% to $0.63
6. Mind Cure (MCURF) -10.4% to $0.48
7. MindMed (MMEDF) -9.2% to $0.79
8. Compass (CMPS) - 7.0% to $33.13
9. Revive (RVVTF) -6.7% to $0.14
10. Numinus (LKYSF) -5.6% to $0.34
11. Mydecine (MYCOF) -4.7% to $0.15
12. Field Trip (FTRPF) +4.2% to $1.97

The average performance of the 12 stocks above over Wednesday and Thursday was -6.8%. If Compass was excluded from the equally-weighted index the sector because of its extremely high price compared to the others then the Index only declined -5.8%. Interestingly, in comparison, the  munKNEE Pure-Play Pot Stock Index of the 25 pure-play cannabis stocks that trade in excess of US$1/share was down only 2.6% over the past two days.

About Each Constituent

For the sake of comparing companies using one type of mushroom vs. another the list below is divided into two segments, namely functional and psychedelic.

Psychedelic Mushroom Category

1. COMPASS Pathways Plc (CMPS)

COMPASS is the early industry darling in the psychedelics space given that its psilocybin-based therapy for treatment-resistant depression is in Phase 2 of clinical trials and it has received Breakthrough Therapy Designation for its research from the Food and Drug Administration.

The company went public in late September with an IPO at $17/share which raised $127.5M and its shares have been selling within a range of  $33 to $38 in the past 2 weeks and now commands a market cap of $1.2 billion. For more information on the company visit its website here.

2. Mind Medicine Inc. (MMEDF)

MindMed has three drug initiatives that use psychedelic mushrooms already in Phase 2 with several other initiatives in Phase 1 trials. For more information on the company visit its website here.

3. Mydecine Innovations Group Inc. (MYCOF)

Currently, Mydecine is the only company in the world that can legally produce pharmaceutical-grade psilocybin from whole-mushroom extraction at a tiny fraction of the high cost of synthetic psilocybin production and they are also allowed to transfer, sell, and export the substance as well. It is conducting the world’s first clinical trials into the efficacy of psilocybin in treating PTSD in collaboration with the Dutch Royal Army,  For more information on the company visit its website here.

4. Numinus Wellness Inc. (LKYSF)

Numinus combines clinical operations with psychedelic drug R&D and cultivation of Psilocybe mushrooms, for the purpose of extracting psilocybin from them.  For more information on the company visit its website here.

5. Field Trip Health Ltd. (FTRPF)

Field Trip is developing the next generation of psychedelic molecules and conducting advanced research on plant-based psychedelics such as ketamine which for years has been used as an off-label depression therapy and, given its potent analgesic qualities, has been introduced more recently as a treatment option for PTSD.  For more information on the company visit its website here.

6. Silo Pharma Inc. (SILO)

SILO is an early-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on providing proprietary psychedelic therapeutics to patients suffering from end-of-life anxiety, Alzheimer's, depression, addiction, PTSD, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. For more information on the company visit its website here.

7. Revive Therapeutics Ltd. (RVVTF)

Revive entered a Phase 1 clinical trial in August with the University of Wisconsin System to study the safety and feasibility of psilocybin in adults with Methamphetamine Use Disorder.  For more information on the company visit its website here.

8. New Wave Holdings Corp. (TRMNF) 

New Wave focuses on active psychedelic compounds, functional mushroom product lines, and has developed an IP portfolio focusing on psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, and ketamine derived treatments for neuropsychiatric diseases.  For more information on the company visit its website here.

9. Greenstar Biosciences Corp. (GTSIF)

Greenstar purchased Eleusian Biosciences in June to give it immediate access to the emerging psychedelic medicine sector and Eleusian's two provisional patents related to the treatment of traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  For more information on the company visit its website here.

10. HAVN Life Sciences Inc. (HAVLF)

HAVN is engaged in the research and development of psychopharmacological products, including the formulation of standardized psychoactive compounds derived from fungi.  For more information on the company visit its website here.

11. Champignon Brands Inc. (SHRMF)

Champignon's strategy is to focus on breakthrough treatments of depression through the development of ketamine compounds and a network of ketamine-based treatment clinics. The company’s stock was unable to trade as of Wednesday, October 28th as a result of the company not delivering the required financial documents on time. For more information on the company visit its website here.

Functional Mushroom Category

Mind Cure Health Inc. (MCURF)

Given the fact that it could take as long as 10 years, and potentially cost hundreds of millions of dollars, to bring approved psychedelic drugs to market, Mind Cure is developing products from those dozen or so species of edible ("functional") mushrooms that are recognized as promoting brain health as opposed to the 100 or so "magic mushroom" species containing the highly psychoactive substance, psilocybin.

While psychedelic drugs have blockbuster potential over the longer term to generate a number of medicinal breakthroughs in multi-billion treatment markets, functional mushrooms also represent a multi-billion market and this market is already open for business today which will allow Mind Cure to offset some of the R&D costs associated with psychedelics research with near-term revenue streams from functional mushrooms.  For more information on the company visit its website here.

Future Medicinal Mushroom Stock Index reports will be published on a week-ending basis going forward due to the small number of constituents and the "penny-stock" nature of almost all of them.