Bad trip: Why investors have been lukewarm on the psychedelics wave
Australia surprised many when it became the first country in the world to legalise the use of MDMA and psilocybin for medical use last year. Nine months on, progress has been slow.
When Australia became the first country in the world to legalise the medical use of MDMA and psilocybin in July last year, some thought it would ignite a local boom of manufacturers, distributors and clinics to link patients with the potentially life-changing drugs.
If bulls expected a gold rush similar to cannabis stocks eight years ago, they would have been sorely disappointed. Nine months on, just a handful of Australia’s 4,000 psychiatrists are permitted to prescribe psychedelics, while the share price of the few ASX companies involved in the supply chain have all fallen deep into the red.
But those in the industry say that while progress is slow, last year’s regulatory changes have placed Australia at the forefront of a potential medical revolution.
“There’s no question there is massive demand from both patients and clinicians for treatments which are more effective than what’s currently available,” Emyria CEO Michael Winlo told Capital Brief.
