Core One Labs Announces Successful Proof of Concept and Files Patent for Protection of its Recombinant Production System for Optimized Biosynthesis of Psilocybin

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Core One Labs Inc. (CSE: COOL), (OTC: CLABF), (Frankfurt: LD6, WKN: A3CSSU) (“Core One” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Vocan Biotechnologies Inc. of Victoria, British Columbia, has optimized its recombinant production system (the “System”), successfully testing its proof of concept for the biosynthesis of psilocybin suitable for use in future scale-up and has filed a patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) titled “Production of Psychedelic Compounds” for protection of its novel psilocybin production system. Psilocybin is a psychedelic compound that is showing enormous promise in treating addiction and depression.

The Company’s team of scientists at Vocan have constructed optimized DNA sequences that can produce enzymes replicating the biosynthetic pathway used by Psilocybe mushrooms. This allows bacteria to become factories for psilocybin production. Under the leadership of Dr. Jan Burian, Chief Scientist, and Dr. Robert EW Hancock, Vocan CEO, Vocan scientists have used DNA modeling to improve and optimize design and produce unique DNA sequences that improve the efficiency and expression of these enzymes, allowing for rapid and cost-effective psilocybin production.

Currently, most companies use chemically synthesized psilocybin as the only available cGMP compliant product that is available in large volumes. The chemical process carries significant costs and is less efficient when compared to a biologically derived psilocybin. Vocan’s biosynthetic process retains the stereochemistry of the natural psilocybin molecules found in hallucinogenic mushrooms, which are known to have a more positive effect than the chemically synthetized counterpart. However, these tiny mushrooms are not an efficient source of psilocybin since the amount produced is quite small and variable.

Vocan’s successful production system engineers bacteria incorporating optimized biosynthetic genes from the Psilocybe mushroom and other species and enables the bacteria to act as a biological factory and synthesize psilocybin.

Additionally, the Company’s team of scientists hypothesise that by using a gene mimicry process and simple chemical modifications to enable the creation of bioidentical compounds, there is potential to produce other known and novel analogs of psilocybin and related psychedelics. The analog compounds may potentially be more effective, targeted, and safer than the natural compounds.