Houston, Texas--(Newsfile Corp. - February 26, 2020) - The psilocybin mushroom story is everywhere at the moment.

All on evidence the drug can improve obsessive-compulsive disorder, PTSD, opioid addiction, alcoholism, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and even smoking.

There are even claims mushrooms can even "increase immune resistance to viral and bacterial infection, and also increase our defenses against cancer," says Dr. Andrew Weil, as quoted by Refinery29. "Turkey tail, reishi, birch and shelf or bracket fungi have long been consumed for their immune-boosting effects in traditional medicine, either eaten or boiled into teas if they're too woody or bitter to eat."

Along the way, multiple states have decriminalized the possession of products containing psilocybin or psilocin, including Denver, Oakland, and Santa Cruz. Washington, D.C. could very well be next. Another 100 cities are looking into decriminalization and other psychedelics, as well, says Marijuana Moment. Additionally, federal legislation has been proposed to allow bigger research into psychedelics.

Major institutions are even studying its use for the treatment of depression, addiction, and psychological disorders, like Johns Hopkins. All with the support of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In 2018, the US FDA gave "breakthrough therapy" status to psilocybin treatments being developed by Compass Pathways Ltd. for clinical depression, for example.

In short, there's a big movement underway with mushrooms.

Venture Capitalists are Jumping on the Mushroom Bandwagon

"I view the next five years as an absolutely golden window. There's an opportunity to use relatively small amounts of money to have billions of dollars of impact and to affect millions of lives," says angel investor Tim Ferriss, who has poured money into advancing research on the mushroom market, as quoted by Forbes. "There just aren't that many opportunities that are so dramatically obvious."

In addition, a good chunk of venture capital money has been raised to date from firms such as Field Trip Ventures, Numinus, and Tabula Rasa. Compass Pathways, raised $55 million from Thiel Capital and Galaxy Ventures's Michael Novogratz, as well says Fortune.

In short, the mushroom boom is just getting underway - with big growth in store.

Yield Growth Corporation is a Major Beneficiary

Yield Growth has made substantial moves into psilocybin mushrooms.

Just days ago, subsidiary Flourish Mushroom Labs Inc. announces it acquired technology rights from its parent company The Yield Growth Corp. and filed a U.S. provisional patent for the invention of a method of manufacture for a mushroom extract that may be used in a variety of therapeutic and pharmaceutical formulations.

The patent application covers the invention of a unique mushroom extract which may have unique medicinal properties, as well as a method of manufacturing the extract from mushrooms including Psilocybe mexicana, and formulations and emulsions containing the mushroom extract. The mushroom extract may be in the form of an aqueous solution, or it may be a freeze or spray dried powder.

"Our proprietary extraction technology was initially invented to extract compounds from the root of the cannabis plant to manufacture hemp root oil, which we use in a number of our products, including our Urban Juve skincare line," said Penny White, CEO of The Yield Growth Corp. and Flourish Mushroom Labs. "There is now also great interest in using this technology for medicinal mushrooms and psychedelic mushrooms when and where they are legal."

Prior to that, Flourish Mushroom Labs Inc. signed an agreement with Kingdom Brands Management Inc. Kingdom now has the right to use and sub-license Yield Growth's proprietary extraction technology for use exclusively with both medicinal and psychedelic mushrooms and to further develop the technology.

Flourish also completed the acquisition of a catalogue of mushroom formulas as the foundation of a mushroom edibles business. The formulas and know-how acquired relate to formulations that may be used to create ready to eat packaged food products or packaged food products that may be mixed with mushroom varietals of the consumer's choice.

The formulations include soups, teas, hot cocoa, elixirs and truffles. Flourish has engaged the developers to create additional products to add to the base catalogue and commercialize the formulas, going to market first with mushroom based soups and coffees.

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