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Psychedelic Bulletin: Delix Raises $70m Series A; Toronto Gets Psychedelics Research Centre; Elon Musk Endorses Psychedelics

Psychedelic Sector News

Delix Therapeutics Raises $70m Series A to Advance ‘Non-Hallucinogenic’ Psychedelics

Earlier this week, Boston-based Delix Therapeutics announced the closing of its $70 million Series A financing.

The company is seeking to parse out the apparent therapeutic benefits of psychedelics from their hallucinatory properties, dubbing such modified analogs ‘psychoplastogens.’

As the name suggests, Delix’s thesis – largely borne out of co-founder David Olson’s research – hinges on the neuroplasticity-promoting nature of many psychedelics.

In terms of uses of funds, Delix plans to advance two of its lead candidates through Phase 1 clinical trials beginning in 2022. The company has identified a handful of potential clinical development candidates out of a pool of nearly 1,000 novel compounds that Delix claims to have discovered to date.

“We appreciate the overwhelming support from new and early investors alike, and continue to attract top neuroscience, chemistry, and biotech talent as we pursue a unique pathway toward treating – and potentially healing – neuropsychiatric conditions in a new way, at scale,” said Mark Rus, Delix Therapeutics CEO. “We’ve made tremendous progress towards developing efficacious and easily manufactured compounds that have the potential to deliver safe, fast-acting, FDA-approved treatments to help patients in need.”

Two days later, MindMed announced the appointment of Dr. Bryan Roth, who is also looking to remove the hallucinogenic effects from psychedelics, to its Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Roth noted, “Psychedelic compounds like psilocybin have some of the most robust antidepressant effects I’ve ever seen in Phase II studies. But not all patients are comfortable with their treatment program requiring hallucinatory trips. My research, and the perspective I’m excited to bring to MindMed’s drug development programs, focuses on how we can make drugs that are maximally helpful to patients while minimizing discomfort in the treatment process.”

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Weekend Reading

Toronto University Health Network Launches Psychedelic Psychotherapy Research Centre

A $5m donation from the Nikean Foundation launches the Nikean Centre for Psychedelic Psychotherapy, which aims to become an academic and innovation hub.

Nikean was founded in 2019 by Canadian tech entrepreneur Sanjay Singhal. His Foundation has partnered with a number of organisations to date, including Imperial College London, MAPS and Usona Institute.

Singhal is now supporting UHN, which boasts the largest medical psychiatry team in Canada, and calling on fellow philanthropists to join him.

The Nikean Psychedelic Psychotherapy Research Centre will focus on three primary endeavours: research, education and training, and clinical care.

 

Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration Publishes Review on Psychedelics

Yesterday, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) published a review on how psychedelics such as psilocybin and MDA may be used in therapeutic contexts, as part of its assessment as to whether the drugs should be down-scheduled.

The TGA won’t make a final decision on the matter until December.

Read more on ABC.

 

Scientific American: Can Psychedelic Drugs Treat Physical Pain?

In this piece, Troy Farah covers how universities and companies are moving beyond mental health to evaluate how psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin may prove efficacious in the management of pain.

Read the full piece on Scientific American.

 

Elon Musk and Will Smith Comment Positively on Psychedelics

 

 

 

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