Nov 2, 2020 Joseph Keller

Psychedelic Therapies Become New Biotech Hotspot Amid New Legitimacy

psychedelic therapies

For decades, psychedelic therapy was only an experimental idea under research by organizations at academic institutions including Johns Hopkins. This changed in 2018 after life sciences company COMPASS Pathways plc (NASDAQ:CMPS) received Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the FDA for its psilocybin-based treatment for treatment-resistant depression. Now in 2020, psychedelic therapy looks primed to become one of the hottest new developments in the healthcare sector. Following in COMPASS’s footsteps are pioneering companies like Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. (NEO: MMED) (OTCQB:MMEDF), New Wave Holdings (CSE:SPOR) (OTC:TRMNF), Revive Therapeutics (CSE:RVV) (OTC:RVVTF), and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), which are focused on developing psychedelics as medicines.

Biotech companies like MindMed are now stepping up to develop revolutionary new psychedelic therapies for mental health disorders like depression, PTSD, anxiety, and more, and these companies are receiving major funding from investors. As psychedelic therapy transitions from a theoretical solution to a breakthrough treatment, the potential of these treatments has become too great for federal regulators, and for investors, to ignore.

MindMed Takes Important Steps Forward With Psychedelic Therapy

Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. (NEO: MMED) (OTCQB:MMEDF) is one of the pioneering companies looking to bring psychedelic medications into doctors offices and pharmacies around the world. MindMed acquired a Phase 2 study of LSD assisted therapy that is happening in the birthplace of LSD, Switzerland. MindMed is also now preparing a Phase 2b FDA clinical trial using LSD assisted therapy for an anxiety disorder. An estimated 284 million people suffer from anxiety around the world, making it the most prevalent mental health disorder. It is also preparing a Phase 2 trial of a medicine derived from the psychedelic substance ibogaine, intended to address opioid addiction, which costs the US economy $500 billion per year.

On September 25, Forbes reported that MindMed had applied for an up-listing to the Nasdaq, a move that would put MindMed hot on the heels of COMPASS Pathways after COMPASS became the first psychedelic-focused life sciences company to have an IPO on the Nasdaq. MindMed recently closed a financing for CA$28.5M made up of institutional investors and led by Canadian investment bank Canaccord Genuity.

“Besides psychedelic medicines, there are very few transformative and new approaches to mental health,” MindMed Co-Founder, Director & Co-CEO JR Rahn told Forbes. “Institutional and Wall Street investors are recognizing that there needs to be novel approaches to these vast problems and if they are psychedelic medicines, so be it.”

Significant Steps Forward in the Psychedelics Industry

In April, COMPASS Pathways (NASDAQ:CMPS) received an $80 million round of funding led by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. This was the largest private financing round received by a psychedelic-focused life sciences company. As mentioned already, COMPASS also became the first psychedelics company to list on a major US exchange, with its IPO on the Nasdaq in September. After the IPO, COMPASS’s stock jumped 71 percent on its first day of trading.

On September 23, New Wave Holdings (CSE:SPOR) (OTC:TRMNF), an investment company focused primarily on the psychedelic sector, announced that it had closed a deal to acquire 25 percent of Toronto-based psilocybin company Anahit Therapeutics Ltd. New Wave Holdings acquired 12,791,667 common shares in the capital of New Wave at a price of $0.115 per share.

Psychedelic medicine company Revive Therapeutics (CSE:RVV) (OTC:RVVTF) announced on September 2 that the company had entered into a Clinical trial agreement with the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System to evaluate psilocybin for the treatment of Methamphetamine addiction. In April, the company announced that it had closed a second Tranche of brokered private placement with Hampton Securities Limited for gross proceeds of $820,000.

In March 2019, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) received approval from the FDA for patents relating to Spravato, a form of ketamine used for treating drug-resistant depression. The drug is administered in the form of a nasal spray and has shown great promise for treating depression in cases where conventional medications have failed. In recent years, physicians have been using ketamine experimentally in such cases without FDA approval, so this is a big step for the industry.

Understanding of psychedelic therapies has come a long way in recent years from an idea to be studied to a revolution in the healthcare sector and a massive emerging market and biotech asset class. As this transition continues, companies like MindMed are leading the way.

For more information about MindMed, click here.

Featured image: DepositPhotos © SergeyNivens

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