Taking the Helm at Helus: A Brief Q&A With New CEO Michael Cola
Psychedelic Alpha’s Josh Hardman speaks with newly appointed Helus Pharma CEO Michael Cola in a brief Q&A on execution, regulatory rigor, and scaling serotonergic CNS medicines.
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Psychedelic Alpha’s Josh Hardman speaks with newly appointed Helus Pharma CEO Michael Cola in a brief Q&A on execution, regulatory rigor, and scaling serotonergic CNS medicines.
The Psychedelic Practitioner by Psychedelic Alpha is a new publication designed specifically for therapists, clinicians, facilitators, and other professionals working with—or preparing to work with—psychedelic therapies and related treatments. In this Issue, we take a deep dive into psychedelic dosing and ceremony through interviews, research reviews, and practitioner perspectives.
Trump Administration Vetoed Compass Pathways Priority Voucher • Ibogaine in Focus (State Bills Progress, Safety and Regulation, State Programs and Global Supply, Drug Development Remains Early-Stage, DemeRx Shares Phase 1 Data • Definium Therapeutics Sued by Former Vendor Over Alleged Trade Secret Theft • Psychedelics Surface in Newly Released Epstein Documents • Fresh State Bills Add to Growing Psychedelics Docket • and more…
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After a half-century of prohibition, psychedelics are once again entering the mainstream.
Today’s so-called “psychedelic renaissance” is represented by a seemingly exponential increase in research and development activity, billions of dollars of funding, psychedelic policy reform initiatives and successes across the world, and changing public perceptions. ∎
Clinical trials involving psychedelics started, per year
Phase 3 studies of several psychedelics are underway.
Psychedelic policy reforms are gaining pace at the federal, state and local level in the U.S. and internationally.
of psychiatrists agreed that psychedelics show promise in treating psychiatric disorders.
Barnett et al., 2023
‘Alpha’, in the investing world, refers to an excess return on investment relative to a benchmark. But we broaden the definition of alpha on both ends to include more than just economic returns on more than just economic investments.
Instead, we conceptualise alpha as the excess return on myriad investments that people may make in the present and future of psychedelics: beyond economic capital, people might invest time, energy, and effort, for example. And that excess return might not be (purely) financial, it might also be realised through a more impactful treatment paradigm for mental health, for example, where the ‘benchmark’ is the inadequate status quo.
All this to say, we’re not only for investors. In fact, most of our readers aren’t: many of them are practitioners, regulators, entrepreneurs, and so on. ∎
Psychedelic Alpha is an independent newsletter and community that strives to empower a diverse constellation of individuals and organisations with the knowledge, network and nuance to make an impact within the field of psychedelic medicine and beyond. Psy Alpha Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales (16989109).
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