Cybin Becomes First Psychedelics Company On The NYSE: CEO Explains Everything You

Cybin (NYSE: CYBN), a biotech company in the psychedelics space, began listing its stock on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.

The company is the first in the sector to enter the NYSE, following a trend of five psychedelics companies to debut on the Nasdaq since the beginning of the year.

“This validation by the NYSE is incredibly humbling,” said CEO Doug Drysdale in an exclusive interview with Benzinga. He added that the listing provides a real opportunity for increased awareness as well as for growing the company’s shareholder base, especially among retail investors.

Cybin is developing a pipeline of novel psychedelic molecules for the treatment of diverse mental health indications, including a proprietary formulation of psilocybin (the active ingredient in so-called “magic mushrooms”), currently in phase 2 clinical trials.

‘Always Nice To Be First’

While the Nasdaq has so far been the only major U.S. exchange to receive companies from the psychedelics sector, Drysdale said the NYSE felt like a more natural fit for his company, as many of its partners are already listed there.

“It’s always nice to be first doing something, but that’s not really the reason we chose the New York Stock Exchange,” he said.

The CEO added that the exchange is eager to welcome more drug development and technology companies among its lists.

Cybin will continue to offer its shares in Canada through the NEO Exchange, and uplist its U.S. OTC shares (currently under the symbol ‘OTCQB: CLXPF’) to the NYSE American.

Cybin’s Flagship Program At A Glance

Cybin is laser-focused on drug development, leaving other lines of business within the psychedelics ecosystem to other players in the space.

“We have several programs underway, and a lot of milestones coming up,” Drysdale said

The company’s flagship program is a proprietary delivery method for psilocybin, in the form of a sublingual film called CYB001, which is targeting major depressive disorder.

In May, Cybin received approval to launch a phase 2a clinical trial that will test the company’s formulation against a 25mg psilocybin capsule on 40 patients.

“The concept behind the film is that it’s loaded with [psilocybin] and is placed under the tongue, where it’s in touch with the sublingual membranes above and below. The goal with this is to deliver psilocybin very quickly, right into the bloodstream and quickly to the site of action without having to go through the guts, without having to go through the liver,” Drysdale explained.

If successful, the research will continue in a Phase 2b trial on 120 patients, where the safety and efficacy of the product will be assessed.

With the sublingual film, the company is hoping to see a rapid onset of action and possibly a shorter duration because bypassing the liver means using far less active substances to achieve the same effects.

This thesis will be tested in the Phase 2a trial, which should output its result by the end of the year.

Cybin is not…