Filament Health was founded by experts in botanical extraction and commercialization.
We honed our expertise at Mazza Innovation, a natural extraction startup, which our team scaled from pre-seed to an exit in 2018. At Mazza, we developed and commercialized patent-protected extraction technologies at a 35,000 ft2 commercial-scale GMP facility.
After selling Mazza, it became clear that our expertise was needed in a new area. Ben Lightburn, Filament Health’s CEO and Co-Founder, took note of the growing global mental health crisis. He believed that psychedelics could help, and that natural psychedelics would be the preferred choice.
Ben also recognized his unique position - he had the skills and experience to develop natural psychedelic drugs. By combining his background as entrepreneur with the botanical extraction expertise of the former Mazza Innovation team, Filament Health was created.
Global Experts in Botanical Extraction and Commercialization
management
Proven entrepreneur and leader specializing in the research, development and commercialization of novel extraction technologies
Operational and leadership expertise in rapidly growing industries
Experienced in audit, accounting, tax, and financial reporting
Expert in the field of botanical extraction, purification, standardization
+25 years in B2B business development. Former senior executive of several pharmaceutical and natural product organizations
13+ years of experience leading marketing and communications for global organizations
Extensive patent and trademark portfolio experience in healthcare, technology and other diversified industries
Quality management, regulatory compliance, and attaining third-party certification
15 years in corporate partnership development and brand strategy
30 years of drug development experience leading regulatory development efforts from pre-IND to post-approval
board
Proven entrepreneur and leader specializing in the research, development and commercialization of novel extraction technologies
Over 20 years of experience leading finance and other support functions for drug discovery and development organizations.
Partner at Fasken Corporate and commercial lawyer specializing in companies in the technology and health sciences sectors including venture capitalists and start-ups
Over 25 years of experience in the life sciences industry, most recently as CEO and Director of both private and public companies Led Prozac and Zyprexa teams at Eli Lilly Founder and VP at Aspreva Pharmaceuticals
Chief Executive Officer of Negev Labs, demonstrated track record in pharmaceutical R&D. Served as a VP Operations and Technology at Levco Pharmaceuticals Ltd, CEO and VP Operations at Regenera Pharma LTD, and Director and co-CEO at Targia Pharmaceuticals.
Advisory council
Founder of Nammex, the first company to supply medicinal mushroom extracts to the nutritional supplement industry.
Associate Professor at UCSF; PI and Director of UCSF’s BAND Lab; Director of the TrPR Program at UCSF
Research & industry partners
We are doing everything in our power to advance our mission of seeing safe, natural psychedelics in the hands of everyone who needs them, as soon as possible.
Meaningful change requires the development of an ecosystem of players who are dedicated to making accessible psychedelic therapy a reality.
With this in mind, the founders of Filament Health pledged 10% of their founder’s shares to a charitable foundation controlled by a majority of non-Filament insiders to support non-corporate, value-aligned projects.
Former Managing Director: Greenpeace Canada and Public Outreach USA
Founder, Renewal Funds
Proven entrepreneur and leader specializing in the research, development and commercialization of novel extraction technologies
Our natural drug development process does not produce any harmful chemical by-products or residues. Filament’s drug candidates are naturally extracted from plants and fungi, rather than synthetically created.
We are studying psychedelic plants like ayahuasca and mescaline-containing San Pedro cactus in order to develop much-needed botanical medicines.
We source our raw materials from partners that work with local indigenous groups to ensure conservation and responsible harvesting.
Filament Health acknowledges that our research and development facility is located on the unceded traditional territories of the Coast Salish Nations of xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh).
In Memory of Tom Kineshanko
Filament Health Co-Founder Tom Kineshanko was a visionary - we are forever grateful for his entrepreneurial spirit and his powerful drive to make a difference in the world. Filament would not exist without him.
In Tom’s memory, we have made a donation to the Thomas Kineshanko Memorial Fund at the HollyHock Cortes Island Retreat Centre. If you would like to do the same, please visit:
https://hollyhock.ca/thomas-kineshanko/
Memories and pictures of Tom can be shared on his memorial board: https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/DEoxkOVL/thomas-kineshanko
