Vancouver, British Columbia - TheNewswire - January 24, 2022 - Lexston Life Sciences Corp. (the “Company” or “Lexston”) (CSE:LEXT) (CNSX:LEXT.CN) (OTC:LEXTF) is pleased to announce that the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Egret Bioscience Ltd. (“Egret”) has developed and validated a targeted genetic barcode consisting of eight Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (“SNP”) for psychedelic mushroom genetic identification (“Egret Psilocybe Assay”).  Egret has previously developed and published similar genetic identification tests for the Cannabis Industry (https://t.co/rh1VJ5cf0a) and have been offering this service to licensed producers through its affiliated licensed lab, Zenalytic Laboratories Ltd.

In early January, the Controlled Substances Directorate of Health Canada amended their regulations to allow practitioners to prescribe restricted drugs, such as psilocybin and psilocin through the Special Access Program (“SAP”) for patient with treatment resistant depression and other debilitating illnesses that have failed to respond to conventional treatments. As with other restricted drugs, Health Canada has mandated a stringent quality control and compliance routine testing for every batch destined for the SAP. One of the key requirements put in place by the regulator is the requirement for a genetic identity test.

“Our team has been steadfast at work to develop and implement validated state-of-the-art methods for genetic identification of psychedelic mushrooms. Our assay provides the first of its kind Psilocybe genetic barcode, a rapid and efficient diagnostic test able to provide individual genetic strain identification and differentiate strains from the main groups of Psilocybe mushrooms, in particular P. cubensis, P. tampanensis and P. mexicana (P. galindoi). This traceability and authentication tool will be paramount in establishing best practice for the psychedelic industry.” Stated Jag Bal, CEO and Director of Lexston.

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Phylogenetic tree showing the relationship between 84 psychedelic mushroom samples from which the Egret genetic barcode was developed. Reproduced from data made available by McKernan and colleagues (2021; https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.55301.2). Of particular note, the more potent P. cubensis accessions such as P. Envy cluster closely to the P. azurescens, P. tampanensis and P. mexicana accessions.

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About Lexston Life Sciences Corp.

Lexston Life Sciences Corp. is a Canadian biotechnology company providing cannabis testing and research services.  Lexston is also in the process of securing licensing under the exemptions prescribed by section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (Canada) to enable the expansion of its services into the psychedelic industry with an initial focus on the detection and quantification of psychedelic molecules in the lab and point of care. Lexston intends to develop and validate methods for standardized manufacturing of plant derived psychedelics in support of burgeoning trials in the field of mental health and wellness.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

LEXSTON LIFE SCIENCES CORP.

Jagdip Bal Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: (604) 928-8913

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