Havn Management wants to do a lot better than in cannabis times
Several bosses at the psychedelics company learned their lesson from cannabis.
When it comes to the Canadian cannabis industry, looking back at 2018 is essential. Two years later, many of the pioneers look back to look ahead. Some of these early entrepreneurs are now executives at Havn Life Sciences Inc. (CSE: HAVN), one of the first publicly traded psychedelics companies - a company that seeks to turn the hard lessons of the novel cannabis economy into gold.
In other words, a profitable model that can capitalize on a regulated mind-altering drug market if it comes. Such a market seems likely at some point. The federal government recently approved individual medicinal uses of psilocybin, and many see a legal route through self-directed medication already paved with cannabis. Whenever Canada arrives there, Havn is on the rise building a supply chain of safe, quality-controlled products that can serve domestic and international markets. Future in view.
Shareholder value in sight But just building capacity would be making the same mistake twice. With its retail business, Havn plans to increase shareholder value in the near future with a range of top-quality health products, avoiding the pitfalls so many feel in the cannabis business when it comes to growing today and making profits tomorrow . "We all came out of the cannabis industry," says Ivan Casselman, chief psychedelic officer. "And to be honest, a lot of us didn't do well in the cannabis industry." Because of this, his team recognizes the mistakes cannabis companies made when they started out. "So instead of just going through regulations and licensing and then waiting for everything to be allowed to us, we've baked in Havn Retail, which will focus on natural health products that we can sell in the market immediately as a source of income," he says.
Will they be the biggest and worst natural medicine company in the world? No, says Casselman. Seeing the promise psychedelics make for mental health, he says he is excited to be part of an industry that can help people avoid the grief he has had to swim through for the past three decades. This is where Moore's experience with traditional CPG stores comes in to complement what he believes are world-class science and operations teams. He points to Havn's advisors, who include Allan Oberman, former CEO of mega-corporation Teva Pharmaceuticals.
In September, Havn said the company had filed a number of health products for approval with Health Canada, "including a blend of mushrooms addressing cognitive function and regulation, human performance and immunity." Havn's seasoned team knows how to run business, how to build brands, and is responsible for the balance sheets and cash flow, says Moore. So how do you complement your scientists, who take years to generate income from psilocybin, with a shareholder accountability model? This is where the retail plan comes in. "We take other psychoactive substances that are not restricted agents: \[mushrooms\] like reishi, cordyceps, lion's mane and turkey tail," he explains.
"They fall under the same rules as melatonin, chondroitin and glucosamine. As far as Health Canada is concerned, they are novel compounds or dietary supplements or natural health products - whatever description you want to use." Havn will have formulas ready for shipping in early 2021, Moore expects. The products will be designed to improve people's mental health and support human performance. They are designed for whatever places you would expect them to be: health food stores, alternative therapy stores, drug stores, and grocery stores. Very, very similar to cannabis ". One of the first things that spring to mind when thinking about legal psilocybin is what this market actually looks like.
While many doubt that the retail potential for magic mushrooms even comes close to that of cannabis, it is likely that Canada will regulate them in a similar way. The historical judgment of R. v. Parker in 2000 established a person's constitutional right to grow and own weeds for medicinal purposes. Before the Ontario Court of Appeals, Terry Parker stated that he found cannabis effective after conventional therapy failed to treat his debilitating seizures. "We have a constitutional right in Canada to choose our medicine," says Casselman. "So if a drug proves to be effective, then there are mechanisms that we can use to gain access to that drug," says Casselman. Although cannabis is approved for medicinal manufacture and use, it is not treated as a medicinal product or as a natural health product. Its regulatory status hovers somewhere in between. Casselman thinks it is a reasonable assumption that psilocybin will also find itself in this intermediate state, with its own set of rules, including how it gets from the producer to the patient.
"What I suspect is that in the near future, doctors will be able to license people to use psilocybin," he says, which could be used in guided therapy or counseling. It could be a smaller dose, and a person could do it on their own. But when it comes to a patient from the company, it is the patient's responsibility to choose the manner in which they see the greatest benefit. What they are going to do is get their branding and messages out on the market and start the process of educating people about the potential of natural medicines. "When Canada finally comes to a decision on how to give patients access to psilocybin, Havn Labs will transfer the product to Havn Retail," said Casselman, acknowledging that the route to consumers may vary depending on how they are Regulation is taking shape. As a plant scientist and ethnobotanist, Casselman's efforts focus on the laboratory, where the processes he has structured may one day be translated into the ongoing development of psychedelic treatments.
An exception to Section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act granted to Havn in August this year allows him to possess psilocybin and do related research. That said, some well-known personalities such as former Aphria CEO Vic Neufeld, former Squamish councilor and entrepreneur Susan Chapelle, former Aphria chief scientist Gary Leong and consumer goods veteran Tim Moore are on Havn's corporate timetable. Why is a 62-year-old packaged man into psychedelics? With 30 years of leadership experience in companies like The Clorox Company and BRITA Group, Moore has been appointed to lead Havn's retail division. Moore was also the then CEO and General Manager of Green Growth Brands Ltd., a formerly booming multi-state cannabis company that launched a sales and bidding process in June this year after a sharp decline in bankruptcy. You can't be perfect, but you also don't repeat the same mistakes, he says after pouring an afternoon glass of Jameson. Moore doesn't mind sharing his imperfections, some of which are well documented in Canada's corporate reporting system.
"When I stepped down as CEO \[of Green Growth Brands\] in January 2019, my shares were worth nearly $ 3 million, but I couldn't sell any of them because we had a power outage. When I finally sold everything, I got them for 4,100 Dollars sold, "he says. "So you don't need to tell me about scar tissue." So why is a 62-year-old packaged man in the psychedelics room? asks Moore rhetorically. It's more than just a business commitment. It's personal, he says. Of his five sons - all of whom are now adults - two had anxiety disorders and one was hit by a drunk driver leaving him with a disability that eventually led to opioid addiction.
"It was cannabis that saved his life and helped him cope with his depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, PTSD, anger management, and chronic pain," says Moore. "That's how I got into the cannabis room a few years ago."