Princeton facility gets green light to grow magic mushrooms
Health Canada has approved a magic mushroom facility in the Similkameen.
Optimi Health Corp currently has two 10,000 square foot facilities located in Princeton’s industrial park.
Now that Health Canada has granted the company with a dealer’s licence, the buildings will be used to grow, process, research and develop psilocybin products, the hallucinogenic ingredient in magic mushrooms, for the health and wellness sector, according to a press release from Optimi Health.
READ MORE: Construction ongoing for Princeton magic mushroom facilities
Once fully commercialized, one of the buildings will serve as a research and production facility, dedicated to cultivating, extracting, and processing the psilocybin. The other building will be used to house up to 1,250 kg of psilocybin which carries an approximate value of $53 million, according to Optimi Health.
The project is located next to the B.C. Green Pharmaceutical medical marijuana site.
“This is a proud and exciting moment for all of us at Optimi,” said director and chief operating officer Bryan Safarik, in the press release.
As of Sept. 30, 2021, the cost of the construction of the two facilities equaled $8.6 million.
READ MORE: Magic mushroom facility in Princeton taking shape
Optimi is poised to become the only large-scale Canadian manufacturer, and the premier supplier of psilocybin therapies to patients, research groups, universities, licensed clinics and holders of other dealer’s licenses and Section 56 exemptions in Canada, allowing the the drug to be used research and medical purposes, according to the press release.
While the prescription model of psilocybin delivery is dependent on further clinical trial data from the industry, Optimi will be able to supply patients by way of their physicians and the Special Access Program.
The company has begun outreach to potential psilocybin clients in Canada and is actively seeking commercial opportunities for its products in markets with favourable regulatory regimes, according to the press release.
With Health Canada’s recent amendment of the Special Access Program, physicians will be able to request patient access to restricted psychoactive substances like psilocybin and MDMA for psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Optimi Health will host a grand opening of the facilities in the late spring.
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