You are currently viewing Psychedelic Bulletin: MindMed Raises $92.1m; Mount Sinai Establishes Psychedelics Centre; More Legal Exemptions for Psilocybin in Canada

Psychedelic Bulletin: MindMed Raises $92.1m; Mount Sinai Establishes Psychedelics Centre; More Legal Exemptions for Psilocybin in Canada

The New Year is off to a strong start for the psychedelics space. Investment in the sector continues to flow into psychedelics companies, but also into research centres and advocacy efforts. Psychedelics companies provided a diverse range of announcements this week: from patent filings and licencing agreements, right through to the emergence of new companies entirely, such as Albert Labs.

We also saw a number of psychedelics companies demonstrate revenue-generating activity this week. Numinus, for example, shared that they have entered into a Lab Services Agreement with Optimi Health, which will pay a retainer plus project-specific fees to access Numinus Bioscience’s laboratory facility and expertise. Silo Pharma, meanwhile, announced an agreement to licence technology that sees psilocybin used as a therapeutic for cancer patents, for which the company has filed provisional patent applications. While the road to legalisation and large-scale roll-out of psychedelic medicines and therapies should be conceptualised in years as opposed to months, these diverse examples of revenue-generating activities demonstrate how some psychedelics companies may seek to realise returns in the shorter-term.

In terms of financings, we saw MindMed close a $92.1m raise, leaving them with $183m cash on hand. We also saw significant raises from Field Trip ($20m) and Havn ($11.5m) close, and both Novamind (NM) and NeonMind (NEON) commenced trading on the CSE.

As we enter a New Year, we edge closer to the potential approval and roll-out of psychedelic-assisted therapies. It’s clear that the safe and effective delivery of such therapies will hinge largely on the availability of qualified practitioners. To this end, it is promising to see the emergence of a number of new research and training centres that have a significant focus on the delivery of such therapies. Just this morning, COMPASS Pathways announced that it is set to establish its first Centre of Excellence in collaboration with the Sheppard Pratt Institute. Yesterday, we learned that Mount Sinai has launched a Center for Psychedelic Research, which has a strong initial focus on ensuring the eventual roll-out of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy is effective in treating a range of mental health issues.

Psychedelic Sector News

COMPASS Establishes Centre of Excellence in Baltimore

COMPASS today announced that it is establishing its first Centre of Excellence, in collaboration with the Sheppard Pratt Institute. The centre is set to be built on the Sheppard Pratt Towson campus and will offer at least 4 psychedelic therapy rooms.

Dr. Scott Aaronson, who will lead the centre, explained: 

The Centre of Excellence will enable us to carry out new research in the use of psilocybin therapy for a range of mental illnesses, such as depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, among others.

In their SEC filings, COMPASS explained that their Centres of Excellence will contribute to refining its therapeutic model for the delivery of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy.

Field Trip Toronto to Act as Trial Site for MAPS’ MDMA for Anorexia Study

Field Trip expects its Toronto location will be used as a trial site for the Anorexia Nervosa arm of MAPS’ Eating Disorder Study, which has been approved by Health Canada. During the study, Field Trip would host MAPS-trained therapists who would provide MDMA-assisted therapy.

This is the latest collaboration between MAPS and a public psychedelics company. Last month, MAPS PBC and Numinus announced their collaboration agreement to seek approval for a single-arm, open-label MDMA for PTSD study.

Numinus Generates Revenue via Lab Services Agreement

Optimi Health, a Canadian functional mushroom brand, has entered into a lab services agreement with Numinus. Under the agreement, Optimi gains access to Numinus Bioscience’s laboratory facility, scientific expertise, and certain licences. This presents a revenue stream for Numinus, with Optimi paying an initial retainer and additional fees on a project-by-project basis.

Entheon Invests in Ketamine Therapy Provider

Entheon has participated in a Series A Financing of Heading Health, investing USD $200k for a 5% stake in the company. Heading Health is a Texas-based provider of a number of therapies, including Spravato and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy.

There is not a great deal of information available regarding Heading Health. Their website includes the logos of ATAI Life Sciences and COMPASS, suggesting they may be fellow investors or collaborators.

Mydecine Sponsors Microdosing Study in Australia; Provides IP Update

Mydecine is set to sponsor a study titled “The neurocognitive effects of low dose psychoactive substances,” at Australia’s Macquarie University. The research purports to be the first study of naturalistic microdosing in a lab environment. The study will recruit individuals who already have an established microdosing regime.

The Company also provided insight into its Intellectual Property efforts, announcing their filing of 7 provisional patent applications pertaining to medicinal mushrooms and psychedelic medicines.

Albert Labs Seeks to Leverage Real-World Evidence to Accelerate Access to Psilocybin

Albert Labs – a new company in the space – outlined their strategy for accelerating regulatory approval pathways for psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in Europe by harnessing Real-World Evidence studies. The company expects to be the first psychedelics company to make use of the pathway. 

Silo Pharma Licences Psilocybin Technology

Silo Pharma has entered into an agreement to licence technology that sees psilocybin used as a therapeutic for cancer patients, which is covered in the company’s provisional patent applications. Psilocybin Alpha understands that Alkido Pharma Inc., trading on the Nasdaq under symbol AIKI, is the counterparty to the agreement.

Cybin Provides Update on 8 Patent Filings

Cybin provided an update on its 8 patent filings, and announced its intent to expand its therapeutics program to include psychedelics such as DMT, psilocybin analogues and a range of tryptamines and phenylethylamines.

Tryp Therapeutics Appoints Pain Medicine Expert to Scientific Advisory Board

Tryp Therapeutics has appointed Dr. William K. Schmidt to their Scientific Advisory Board. Schmidt has over thirty years of experience in pain medicine pharmaceutical development, making him an important advisor to the company, given Tryp’s work on harnessing their TRP-8802 drug candidate for indications such as fibromyalgia. The debilitating condition, which causes pain to be felt all over the body, is the lead indication in the company’s Psilocybin-for-Neuropsychiatric Disorders (PFN) program.

Schmidt explained that there is much need for novel therapies for fibromyalgia. At current, approximately a third of fibromyalgia patients use opioids due to the insufficient pain relief provided by existing medications. He went on to explain: “based on my experience with the NIH’s Opioid Crisis task force, developing safer and more effective drugs for treating chronic pain is a national priority of the highest urgency.”

Financings and IPOs

MindMed’s $92.1m round leads the financial news this week, which brings the company’s cash on hand to $183m. We also saw significant raises from Field Trip ($20m) and Havn ($11.5m) close, and both Novamind (NM) and NeonMind (NEON) commenced trading on the CSE.

MindMed Closes $92.1m Round, $183m Cash on Hand

MindMed has closed its aforementioned financing round, which it upsized from $50m to $80m in mid-December. With the over-allotment option exercised in full, the round closed with $92.1m raised. Units were priced at $4.40. MMED was trading at $3.94 at market close on January 6th, 2021.

As we previously reported, CIBC Capital Markets were added to this offering. Warrants will be listed on the NEO Exchange under symbol MMED.WR (pending approval). Warrants have an exercise price of $5.75 until Jan 7, 2024; subject to acceleration clause(s).

This brings MindMed’s cash on hand to CAD $183m (USD $144.4m). The Company has now raised a total in the region of CAD $237.2m (USD $183.8m) in investment capital.

Field Trip Closes $20m Round

Field Trip has closed a $20m financing, with approximately 4.4m units sold at $4.50.

Havn Closes $11.5m Financing

Havn Life issued 10.7m units at $1.07 each, closing the round with gross proceeds of $11.5m.

Novamind (CSE:NM) and NeonMind (CSE:NEON) Commence Trading 

NeonMind Biosciences commenced trading on the CSE under symbol NEON on the 4th Jan. Novamind, meanwhile, commenced trading on the 5th Jan under symbol NM, also on the CSE.

Lobe Sciences Upsizes and Closes $3.4m Private Placement

Lobe closed a second (and final) tranche of their private placement, having raised $3.4m via the issue of 34.4m units, priced at $0.10 each. 

Red Light Holland Announces $5m Bought Deal

Eight Capital has agreed to purchase 19.6m units of the company at a price of $0.255 per unit, for gross proceeds of $5m.

Ontario Brain Institute Increases Investment in Diamond Therapeutics (Private)

The Ontario not-for-profit more than doubled its investment in Diamond Therapeutics, a psychedelic drug development company seeking to forward low-dose, sub-perceptual psychedelic therapies for mental health disorders such as anxiety. The company hopes to use the investment to improve the evidence base pertaining to low-dose psilocybin.

Weekend Reading

Psychedelics Research Review: December 2020

There was an incredible amount of research into psychedelics in 2020, providing empirical grounding for the Psychedelic Renaissance that is underway. Researchers certainly didn’t down tools in the month of December, with new research exploring the setting element of the psychedelic experience, non-hallucinogenic ibogaine analogs, fMRIs reveal the effect of LSD on the brain, and more. Click here to access our December research review.

Neuroscientists are Employing Machine Learning to Understand Psychedelics

Machine learning methods could help scientists better understand the visual experiences induced by psychedelics such as DMT, reports PsyPost in their coverage of fascinating new research published in December.

“Researchers have demonstrated that “classic” psychedelic drugs such as DMT, LSD, and psilocybin selectively change the function of serotonin receptors in the nervous system. But there is still much to learn about how those changes generate the altered states of consciousness associated with the psychedelic experience.” Learn more in PsyPost’s article.

First Patient Undergoes Legal Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy in Alberta

An Alberta man has become the first in the province to legally undergo psilocybin-assisted therapy via a Section 56 exemption. On New Year’s day, Mr. Tony White underwent his first psychedelic-assisted treatment session, the efficacy of which exceeded his expectations:

I had high hopes that this therapy would make a difference, because it was my last hope to see some kind of improvement in my quality of life.  I couldn’t have imagined how profound it would actually be.  This has been an amazing gift to me and my family, and I hope that others in my situation are soon given the chance to experience it for themselves.

The session was provided by ATMA Journeys Centers Inc., which is the first private therapy company in Canada to provide such psychedelic therapy under the exemption.

Just today, TheraPsil announced that 5 more exemptions for psilocybin therapy were approved for patients in Alberta, Newfoundland, and Quebec.

Mount Sinai Launches Center for Psychedelic Research

New York’s Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has launched a new centre for psychedelics research. The centre will seek to provide training and education; conduct clinical trials; investigate the mechanisms of psychedelics via clinical and translational approaches; and, foster collaboration and public education, among other activities.

The centre will initially focus on MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, which is currently undergoing Phase III clinical trials. You can learn more about the centre here.

What’s Next for Oregon?

Following the success of Measure 109, the two-year developmental process toward a state-wide Psilocybin Services Program is now underway. An article from a local media outlet in Oregon explains the task at hand

Stay Informed in 2021

We can only expect the rate of change and development in the psychedelic space to continue accelerating in 2021. Stay informed via our various platforms and channels…

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