VANCOUVER, BC, May 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ – Today, Terragnosis Inc., a Canadian drug development company, announced IBEX011, the first GMP extract of Tabernanthe iboga available for use in ibogaine clinics and academic research. IBEX011 also marks the first time that an ibogaine product is compliant with the Nagoya protocol, a UN treaty which ensures equitable benefits for traditional knowledge holders from the Bwiti tradition in Gabon.
Iboga root bark has been used for millennia for traditional healing and initiation rites, and more recently in international clinics that treat drug addiction and neurological conditions, including traumatic brain injury. Ambio Life Sciences, the world’s largest medical ibogaine facility, treating over 50 patients a month, will be the first clinic to use Terragnosis’ iboga extract with patients.
Jonathan Dickinson, the CEO of both Terragnosis and Ambio, said, “This marks a common-sense shift in how we think about the production of psychedelic medicine. We’ve gone back to the source to build relationships with the most experienced practitioners. Our goal is to offer the product with the most potent healing properties.”
While most ibogaine in use today is produced semi-synthetically using chemicals extracted from alternative plant sources, IBEX011 contains all of the naturally occurring alkaloids found in T. iboga root bark. This new extract is at least 30% stronger by weight than single molecule ibogaine products.
“What we’ve seen so far has surprised us,” said Ambio co-founder and Chief Operations Officer Trevor Millar. “We’re excited to demonstrate what a standardized botanical like this will mean for the healing and optimization of our patients.”
Terragnosis’ iboga is sourced from the A2E Association in Ebyeng, a Fang community in northeastern Gabon. The story of Aloïse Amougou, whose visionary insight to begin planting iboga came after his own initiation 20 years ago, was the subject of a 2023 feature story in National Geographic.
The architecture of Gabon’s Nagoya strategy was developed and implemented by Blessings of the Forest (BoTF), a non-profit dedicated to the preservation and development of Gabonese cultural and natural heritage. A2E is the first of 20 farms financed by BoTF, and after a decade of work the project promises to set a new precedent for access and benefits sharing in psychedelic production and the pharmaceutic industry.
SOURCE Terragnosis Inc.
