This week has been one of the busiest in the psychedelic space thus far, with a constant flow of announcements and positive news from companies, nonprofits, and regulators.
In terms of company announcements, we saw both Numinus and Eleusis acquire ketamine clinic networks. This is reflective of a growing trend among psychedelic companies to move toward offering ketamine-assisted therapy in the short-term, with hopes of offering additional psychedelic-assisted therapies (e.g., MDMA, Psilocybin) in the future. These longer-term ambitions were brought a step closer to reality this week following MAPS’ announcement that the first of two Phase 3 clinical trials evaluating MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD has produced statistically significant results, and is therefore considered a success. MAPS founder Rick Doblin hopes the drug will be approved by the FDA in 2023.
In the regulatory arena, Health Canada unveiled plans to restore access to restricted drugs—including psychedelics such as MDMA and psilocybin—through the Special Access Program (SAP). This historic move is the latest acknowledgment by Minister Patty Hajdu of the growing body of research and clinical trial data on the safety and efficacy of therapeutics derived from restricted drugs, including psychedelic-assisted therapies.
Large sums of money continue to flow into the space, with MindMed taking centre stage in terms of financings. The Company closed a $34.5 million financing, before announcing a $50 million offering which it quickly upsized to $80 million. We also saw a new listing, as Tryp Therapeutics completed their $5m IPO raise and began trading on the CSE today under symbol TRYP. With an IPO price of $0.25 per share, TRYP closed significantly higher at $0.71 this evening.
The psychedelic space is rapidly growing, with each week bringing greater public interest, investor dollars, R&D progress, and conducive regulatory amendments and contexts. As we near the end of 2020 this growth shows no signs of relenting, with significant catalysts on the horizon in the New Year. We will be writing more on this in next week’s bulletin.
Psychedelic Sector News
This week has been incredibly busy in terms of company news releases, of which the below is just a sample. To view all news, visit our News page.
MindMed: Project Lucy & 18-MC Updates
MindMed announced the completion of a pre-IND meeting with the FDA for Project Lucy, its LSD-assisted therapy for anxiety program. MindMed also reported that the ibogaine derivative 18-MC is demonstrating an “excellent safety profile” in dosing studies, and the Company will continue escalating doses to gather further dose data. Should this continue to prove that the drug is safe, MindMed intends to initiate a Phase 2a proof of concept study.
Numinus Acquires Three Montreal Clinics, Completes First Psilocybe Mushroom Extraction
Numinus has acquired Mindspace wellbeing, a group of clinics located in Montreal. The Company, which operates 3 locations, began offering ketamine-assisted therapy in 2020. Numinus hopes this network of centres will eventually offer MDMA-assisted therapy. Yesterday, the Company announced that it had completed Canada’s first legal extraction of Psilocybe mushrooms in the country by a public company.
Red Light Holland Plans to Enter Brazilian Market
The Ontario-based magic truffle company, Red Light Holland, is teaming up with Disruptive Pharma: a pharmaceutical investment company with a Latin American focus. The pair are aiming to launch a joint venture through which they hope to cultivate, manufacture, and commercialise magic truffles for the Brazilian market.
Eleusis Acquires Wellness Centers, Launches Clinical Development of Psychedelic Infusion Therapies
Eleusis has acquired Kalypso Wellness Centers, a ketamine infusion provider with seven centres in the United States: six in Texas, one in New York (this sees the Company added to the Delivery section of our Psychedelic Sector Overview). The Company also announced that it expects to launch Phase 2 clinical trials of psychedelic infusion therapies in Q4 2021.
Cybin Completes Adelia Therapeutics Acquisition
Cybin has completed its acquisition of psychedelic-focused biopharmaceutical company Adelia Therapeutics. Through this acquisition Cybin gains six patent applications, as well as the expertise of Adelia’s leadership team and their development facility in Boston.
BetterLife Seeks to Leverage 2-Bromo-LSD
Through its acquisition of Transcend Biodynamics, BetterLife now owns a manufacturing patent covering the process of synthesising 2-Bromo-LSD: a second-generation LSD-derived molecule. The company claims that this molecule mimics the therapeutic potential of LSD, without producing psychedelic effects. Notably, the molecule is not scheduled, so it’s more accessible for research purposes. Our editor-at-large Graham Pechenik explained the molecule as it pertains to this news on Twitter.
Financings and IPOs
Substantial sums continue to flow into the space, with MindMed closing-and announcing-significant financings. We also saw a new listing, with Tryp Therapeutics trading on the CSE under symbol TRYP as of today.
MindMed Closes $34.5m Financing, Announces $80m Offering
Just over 18 million units were sold at a price of CAD $1.90 each, bringing the company’s cash reserves to CAD $85 million. Shortly thereafter, MindMed announced that it is to sell over 11 million shares of the company at CAD $4.40, over double the price of the aforementioned raise. The Company swiftly upsized this $50m offering to $80m.
Tryp Therapeutics IPO, CSE: TRYP
Having completed a $5m IPO raise the pharmaceutical company, headquartered in California, today began trading on the CSE under symbol TRYP. You can learn more about the Company on our Tryp Therapeutics Company Profile.
Havn Announces $5m Financing, Quickly Doubles Offering to $10m
On Tuesday, Havn Life Sciences announced a $5m bought deal financing, before promptly raising the offering to $10m. Units are to be sold at a price of $1.07.
MagicMed Closes $8.1m Private Placement
Originally announced as a $2.5m raise, MagicMed has announced the closing of an $8.1m private placement.
Mindset Pharma Raises $5m
Toronto-based Mindset has raised $5 million, selling units at a price of $0.40 each.
Weekend Reading
Canada to Consider Allowing Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy under Special Access Program Amendment
In a historic move, Health Canada announces plans to restore access to restricted drugs—including psychedelics such as MDMA and psilocybin—through the Special Access Program (SAP). This progressive move by Health Canada is the latest in a series of apparent acknowledgments of the growing body of research and clinical trial data on the efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapy. Learn more about the Amendment in our explainer article.
Rick Doblin Announces Success of Phase 3 MDMA-assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD Study
MAPS Founder and Executive Director Rick Doblin has announced that the first of two Phase 3 studies of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD was successful, in that it has been found to be statistically significant.
Now, MAPS has to complete a second Phase 3 study, plus additional safety studies. Writing in the Autumn 2020 MAPS Bulletin, Doblin explained that MAPS’ “current timetable for the potential of FDA approval is the first half of 2023”.
This Sunday: CNN’s This Is Life with Lisa Ling to explore Psychedelic Healing
Lisa Ling explores the medical uses of psychedelics and examines how for some the hallucinogenic toolbox might hold the key to a healthier future. Airing this Sunday evening on CNN.
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