Working with us – 
Botanical and psychoactive 
therapeutics
We assist Australian companies to 
bring their botanical extracts to the 
market or help them to maintain 
their world leading positions through 
technological innovation.

A key focus is our work with controlled 
substances of plant origin. At our secure 
Botanical Extracts Laboratory we hold 
all of the required Victorian State and 
Federal licences to allow the commercial 
development of medical cannabis and 
psychedelics. CSIRO is one of the few 
Australian research institutes licenced 
for such activities. 

We bring ideas to life so you have a 
product that you can then progress 
to clinical trials, and beyond.

Support for SMEs

CSIRO offers start-ups and 
small‑to‑medium enterprises (SMEs) 
some excellent opportunities to 
work with us through faciliated 
R&D programs, such as incubators, 
accelerators and more. We also offer 
matched funding support and training. 
We’re here to help you navigate the 
research ecosystem and access our 
world-class facilities and researchers. 

“Research that creates new and enhanced medical 
products and improves upon the manufacturing 
process, is important for Australia’s medicinal cannabis 
industry to compete in a global market.” – Peter Crock, 
Chair of Medicinal Cannabis Industry Australia



Working with us – 

Our capabilities in botanical and psychoactive therapeutics

Clinical trialsProcessing, development, optimisation and evaluation Source of PsychoactiveSyntheticsPhase IPhase IIPhase IIIRegisteredmedicineMedicinalchemistryAnalysis & 
characterisationProcess development 
& scale upDesign & 
modellingSupportLead 
optimisationComplementarymedicineFungiHNOOconjugation(e.g. polymer)
ExtractionRefinementAnalysisStability studiestFormulationTechnologytransfer to 
manufacturerBiological EvaluationPlantsBotanical Extracts Laboratory (BEL) Schedule 9 licenseMicrobialfermentation
Target protein Target protein SPR/biophysicsBiochemical assay Cell assay In vivo testingconstruct designexpression & development & development & developmentpurificationtestingtesting& testing