High doses of psilocybin - the active ingredient in magic mushrooms - appears to have a similar effect on depressive symptoms as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drug escitalopram, suggests a systematic review and meta-analysis published in The BMJ today.
The exclusive rights to get their product administered in hospitals, carried by pharmacies, etc.
The drug company Lykos funded studies into MDMA/ecstasy/Molly as PTSD treatment, and submitted an application for being the exclusive licensed provider of MDMA. Now, the studies were rejected, but mainly because of sloppy science. If they had the evidence showing it actually works, they would’ve gotten the exclusive right to mass produce it in the U.S.
That’s worth a lot of money, even if it is a relatively cheap drug. And if there’s exclusivity, they can set the price wherever they want, where the cheapness of the manufacturing is actually a plus for the manufacturer.