New therapies and diagnostics in the pharmaceutical and medical industries can be a very lucrative area. To be successful a company has to outmaneuver the large established drug companies, or focus on niche areas. Today’s company is working on doing just that with their focus on disruptive and innovative solutions in the medical and pharmaceutical space. Two areas they are progressing rapidly are rapid COVID-19 PCR testing and psychedelics therapies for neurodegenerative and other diseases.
XPhyto Therapeutics Corp. (CSE: XPHY | OTCQB: XPHYF | FSE: 4XT) (‘XPhyto’) is a bioscience accelerator focused on next-generation drug delivery, diagnostic, and new active pharmaceutical ingredient investment opportunities. XPhyto is on the cusp of two major commercial milestones related to their rapid point-of-care COVID-19 PCR test system, with expected ISO certification and CE-IVD approval pending.
XPhyto’s Covid-ID Lab 25 minute COVID-19 PCR Test
On February 24, 2021 XPhyto announced their first order for their 25-minute COVID-19 RT-PCR tests, from their exclusive diagnostic development partner, 3a-diagnostics GmbH (‘3a’). The order was for 9,600 individual tests with delivery of the first order expected by mid-March 2021. These tests will be primarily used to supply prospective distribution partners and licensees and their respective government regulators with test samples for review and evaluation. XPhyto’s PCR test advantage over others is its rapid speed (25 minute results) and portability, as well as ease of use. They are ideal to be used for pop-up testing sites in any location. They can be done as either a nasal swab test or an oral swab test making it easy to administer.
XPhyto CEO Hugh Rogers stated:
“We are confident that Covid-ID Lab, as a 25-minute PCR test with minimal technical and personnel requirements, will be a stand-out product in the COVID-19 test market.”
If this proves to be correct we could potentially expect large product orders to start rolling in during 2021. Subject to the various regulatory approvals being successful, XPhyto expects to hold a European sales launch in April 2021. XPhyto is also currently in discussions with potential distribution and wholesale partners in Europe and the Middle East.
Assuming success in the above steps, XPhyto should be looking at potential revenues beginning in 2021.
XPhyto’s Point-of-Care rapid and portable diagnostic PCR test for COVID-19
XPhyto’s psychedelics therapies for neurodegenerative diseases
On February 3, 2021 XPhyto announced a Psychedelic Pharmaceutical Production Agreement with Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation (‘Applied’) for the synthesis of pharmaceutical grade psychedelic compounds and the parallel development of the standard operating procedures necessary to obtain regulatory approval for the respective commercial production process. Applied is a not-for-profit institution at the University of Alberta created to support translational drug development for industry and innovators. This adds to XPhyto’s 2020 development agreement for the industrial production of psilocybin with a leading German university, as well as the addition of mescaline production. XPhyto plans to expand its psychedelic programs in 2021, including scalable production of pharmaceutical grade compounds, drug formulations, and clinical evaluation.
XPhyto state: “Psychedelic compounds are a highly promising new class of drugs with strong potential for the treatment of mental health related medical conditions such as depression, anxiety, addiction, and trauma-related stress disorder.” They are also said to be useful for pain management and palliative care. Psychedelics are legal in the Netherlands and recently Canada approved 17 healthcare professionals to possess and use the psychedelic active ingredient psilocybin to conduct professional training in psilocybin therapy. Data Bridge Market Research forecasts that the global psychedelics market will grow from USD 2.077B in 2019 to USD 6.859B by 2027.
Other areas for XPhyto
Also of interest is that XPhyto and 3a are developing a portfolio of oral biosensor screening tests for detection of bacterial and viral infectious diseases. Additional pandemic-focused biosensors are in development. XPhyto is planning the commercial launch of its first biosensor product in the second half of 2021. This looks to be a very exciting area with huge potential.
The other area XPhyto is active in is innovative drug delivery methods such as transdermal patches and oral dissolvable films designed for efficient and affordable delivery of approved neurological medications. Again another innovative area where there is a significant need.
Closing remarks
Innovation in the medical world can have an exponential impact on smaller companies if they have a big success. XPhyto has a reasonable chance to hit a home run – Perhaps from their leading portable 25 minute COVID-19 PCR test, from psychedelics therapies, from their oral biosensor products or from their innovative drug delivery products.
XPhyto Therapeutics Corp. certainly has a lot going on and trades on a market cap of C$171M.
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