Psychedelic Business Spotlight — January 28

Mindset Pharma Enters Manufacturing Agreement to Produce Next-Generation Psilocybin

This week in psychedelic business news, Toronto-based drug development company Mindset Pharma (CSE: MSET) (FSE: 9DF) (OTCQB: MSSTF) entered into a pharmaceutical manufacturing agreement with a leading contract development and manufacturing organization for the production of pharmaceutical grade batches of next-generation psilocybin drug candidate, MSP-1014. “In preclinical trials, MSP-1014 has shown improved efficacy and safety compared to first-generation psilocybin,” says Mindset CEO James Lanthier. “Also, it has demonstrated pharmacological diversity making it potentially suitable for both in clinic treatment approaches and as a take-home medicine.” The announcement comes on the heels of Otsuka Pharmaceuticals agreeing to fund the company’s Phase-1 development of this family of next-generation psychedelics, as well as another DMT-inspired family in the company pipeline.

Ketamine One Rebrands to Wellbeing Digital Sciences

KetamineOne Capital Limited (NEO: MEDI) (OTC: KONEF) (Frankfurt: MY0) is now Wellbeing Digital Sciences Inc., however, will continue to trade under the stock symbol “MEDI” on the NEO Exchange, under the stock symbol “KONEF” on the OTCQB Venture Market, and under the symbol “MY0” on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Interim CEO Adam Deffett says the new name is “better aligned with our multidisciplinary approach, which encompasses mental and physical health through the pursuit of a variety of traditional and novel digital therapeutics. Wellbeing Digital Sciences is a name that acknowledges each one of our three core pillars: clinic-based treatments, contract research and health technology.”

KGK Science Inc. Teams Up with Nova Mentis Life Science Corp. to Develop Psilocybin

KGK Science, a subsidiary of Wellbeing Digital Sciences mentioned above, has formed a tactical partnership with Nova Mentis Life Science Corp. (FSE: HN3Q) (OTCQB: NMLSF) to help develop Nova’s psychedelic psilocybin drug portfolio in Canada. Nova is a biotechnology company focused on psilocybin-based therapeutics and complementary diagnostics for neuroinflammatory disorders. Both companies plan to jointly submit a clinical trial application to Health Canada for a Phase-2A clinical study evaluating psilocybin microdose therapy for fragile X syndrome, and the goal is to eventually bring the drug to the market together. Dr. Marvin S. Hausman, the Nova SAB Chairman, explains, “In our discussions with KGK, we realized early on that our two teams had the ability to navigate the entire lifecycle journey of our novel psilocybin microdose treatment of Fragile X Syndrome from a Phase 2A clinical study to drug approval and commercialization.”

Mydecine Partners with UK Non-Profit for Clinical Study to Treat PTSD in Veterans

Mydecine Innovations Group (NEO: MYCO) (OTC: MYCOF) (FSE: 0NFA) has partnered with Combat Stress, a charity focused on veterans’ mental health in the United Kingdom, and the King’s College London to conduct a clinical study utilizing psilocybin as part of a psychoactive-assisted psychotherapy treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans. Professor Dominic Murphy, Head of Research at Combat Stress and President of the UK Psychological Trauma Society, will serve as the principal investigator in the study using Mydecine’s lead psilocybin drug candidate, MYCO-001, as an adjunct to psychotherapy to treat severe PTSD in veterans that has otherwise been resistant to traditional forms of therapy.

atai Life Sciences Launches Invyxis

atai Life Sciences (Nasdaq: ATAI), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company among the leaders in the psychedelic business, launched a new subsidiary company this week, Invyxis, committed to developing new chemical entities and to further pioneering next-generation mental health treatments. Invyxis’ goal is to accelerate atai’s discovery of new agents with potential in treating mental health disorders, generating NCEs to progress into atai’s research, and development pipeline of psychedelic and non-psychedelic compounds .

G2 Acquires Peyote-Focused Lophos Pharma

And in psychedelic business acquisition news, Greenridez 2.0 Acquisitions Corp. has completed its acquisition of psychedelic research company Lophos Pharma. Claire Stawnyczy has been appointed CEO to operate the company primarily focused on novel therapeutic treatments derived from Peyote for obesity, addiction, anxiety, and depression. Like many others in the emerging psychedelics industry, Stawnyczy says, “We are excited by Health Canada’s recent amendment to the special access program and look forward to supplying patients in the future.”