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Sher Butt spends all day scheming about how to get tiny organisms to do his bidding. After he discovered that yeast could be engineered to pump out everything from CBD to psilocybin, he launched a Y-Combinator-backed startup on a mission to “democratize access to rare and expensive psychedelics.”

We asked Sher how biosynthesis could revolutionize psychedelic medicine, why he's building the world's largest psychedelic biotech lab, and what it means to transform sugar into psychoactive molecules at a fraction of traditional costs.

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How did you get interested in using biotechnology to solve problems in mental health and psychedelics?

I have a degree in biochemistry, and what has always fascinated me is that every biological organism is essentially a little factory, or a collection of mini-factories. After I graduated from college, I went to work for a cannabis testing lab. During my time there, we came across some of the very first samples of CBD, and one of the problems at that time was that CBD was very expensive.

That challenge inspired me to think outside the box. I figured there must be a way to make these molecules without growing plants. It was that thread of curiosity that eventually led me to developing cannabinoids (and eventually psychedelics) in yeast. After the cannabis lab, I got a good offer from Novartis and ended up working with the FDA on drug stability testing for cystic fibrosis. During that time, I would come home from work every day and read research papers, instead of my normal video games. That was how the idea around biosynthesis really crystallized.

The Novartis experience gave me a front-row seat to the inner workings of Big Pharma. I remember that when the FDA came to inspect our facility, I was told that every day the FDA is on the premises going through your paperwork, it costs the company another million dollars. That figure really stuck with me. All this stuff with pharmaceuticals is uber expensive, and that's why we have big companies doing what they do.

Can you explain what biosynthesis is and why it might be better than traditional methods of producing psychedelic compounds?

Biosynthesis is basically like making beer. You have a strain of yeast, you provide it with sugar, and the yeast ferments the sugar over four to five days into your target compound, which is alcohol in beer's case. With biosynthesis, you do the same thing but replace the genes that make alcohol with a gene of interest.

The first big commercial biosynthesis was done by Genentech about 30 years ago when they made insulin using this process. Before that, insulin was extracted from pig livers, which was obviously a much messier and more expensive process. Since then, the industry has expanded into thousands of molecules, from mental health compounds to food products like vitamin C and natural flavors in your juices.

We've created dozens of strains of yeast that eat different types of sugars and convert them into molecules of interest like CBD, psilocybin, or LSD. You can convert ordinary sugar into something very valuable. There are several reasons you'd do this: it's cheaper than creating the product traditionally; you get a cleaner, more pure product because there are no pesticides, soil, or heavy metals; and the turnover is very high. When you grow a plant or fungus, you're looking at weeks to months, but here you have a turnover every five or six days.

Chemical synthesis, by contrast, is typically more expensive than either growing plants or our method. The other problem with chemical synthesis is that for every kilogram of product you make, you have up to 10 kilograms of toxic waste that has to be disposed of by special chemical companies. Biosynthesis is the most sustainable option with the lowest carbon footprint.

There's also an ethical component. Take 5-MeO-DMT extraction. People are torturing toads to get a little bit of product, so they can have a spiritual experience. I don't think that's either sustainable or the right thing to do. Biosynthesis allows you to make products without ever having to come in contact with an animal.

How do you decide which molecules to pursue? What makes a good candidate for your biosynthetic approach?

We look at three main factors. First, is this a molecule that's very expensive? If there's a molecule that's tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars per kilogram, that's a good candidate. Second, is it easily producible? If the structure is simple or we know the pathway, we can go back in the cell and engineer it. Third, we look at the market. Is there an actual need for this? Is this something that's good for patients and would make an impact in society?

Right now, we've just developed what I believe are the first kratom molecules biosynthesized from sugar. We've also made LSD and molecules from salvia. We have a bunch of other molecules that unfortunately I can't talk about because of confidentiality agreements with customers. But I can say that we've made more psychedelics than almost any other company on the planet.

With kratom specifically, we stayed away from 7-hydroxymitragynine, which has come under fire lately. There are many other alkaloids in kratom that aren’t psychoactive but have been shown to have pain-relieving and other properties. We're much more interested in that side of the market. There are minor alkaloids like pseudoindoxyl and corynanthine that, at different ratios, can provide pain relief similar to what you'd expect from kratom but without any intoxication. It’s kind of like what made CBD popular 15 years ago.

Tell us about the partnership with atai Life Sciences and the launch of TryptageniX. How does that collaboration work?

We've been developing and working with atai for about four years. Their CEO, Dr. Srinivas Rao, sits on our board. He’s one of the smartest people I've met in the industry. The founder of atai, Christian Angermayer, is the largest investor in our company through his fund re.Mind Capital. We have a great relationship with those guys.

We are actively developing molecules in their portfolio and molecules that they're interested in. Unfortunately, I can't name the molecules because of confidentiality agreements, but we're very proud and happy to be working with them. I'd say it’s a little bit of both pre-clinical and clinical pipeline work, depending on your perspective.

TryptageniX was a project that we started with atai and then sort of took over. atai's focus is mostly in the therapeutic pipeline—going through FDA trials—and we developed some technologies that we believe would be applicable outside of that.

What's your vision for how biosynthetic production could transform the psychedelic medicine field over the next five to 10 years?

I think psychedelic therapy has more promise than anything that exists out there, and I don't think anybody can contest that. The problem with the psychedelic industry is that people are doing ayahuasca or other things at ceremonies that cost anywhere between $5,000 to $15,000 a pop. There's only a certain amount of people that can go there, and frankly, not enough people can afford it.

Our vision is to create therapies, bring down the price, and make them more accessible. In a few words, we’re democratizing access to rare and expensive psychedelics. Think about how much time it takes to grow plant material. Someone told me it takes three years to grow enough ayahuasca for one person, for one dose. I also talked to a company interested in us making peyote molecules because apparently it takes 20 years for the cactus to grow in the wild. That's a ridiculous amount of time.

We're looking into creating one of the largest, if not the largest, R&D centers in the world, where we can replicate pretty much every single psychedelic known to man using biotechnology. We're looking for funding and partners to help us, but we believe we have a model to do just that.

Think about all the molecules that are very rare, hard to produce, or expensive to purify. Biotechnology holds special promise for giving people all over the world access to something that's affordable, clean, and helpful. I’m convinced biotechnology is going to play one of the most pivotal roles in this industry by creating pure molecules, sustainably, at a fraction of the cost.

Want more from Sher?

Learn about CB Therapeutics' scientific platform or contact their team.

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DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. The use, possession, and distribution of psychedelic drugs are illegal in most countries and may result in criminal prosecution.