Psychedelic Business News Spotlight: April 9, 2021

This week in psychedelic business news: a psilocybin delivery system for brain inflammation, a genetic test to predict your psychedelic-assisted therapy experience, and a potential first treatment for a debilitating form of schizophrenia. 

Alkido Pharma Inc., was granted an exclusive sublicense for technology that provides targeted psilocybin treatment for neuroinflammatory disorders. The technology uses novel and proprietary central nervous system (CNS) homing peptides to facilitate the delivery of therapeutic agents to inflamed brain tissue. 

Psychedelics such as psilocybin have been shown to have anti-inflammatory activity in addition to their potential efficacy for treatment of neurological disorders such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

Studies indicate that neuroinflammation of the brain and other CNS tissues in cancer patients contributes to, among other symptoms, the onset of cancer cachexia, a weakness and wasting of the body characterized by loss of appetite, extreme weight loss and muscle wasting, the company said. 

Psychedelic biotech company Entheon Biomedical Corp, has introduced the industry’s first genetic test designed to help improve the psychedelic-assisted therapy experience. The Psychedelics Genetic Test Kit was developed by the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Halugen Life Sciences Inc.

The psychedelic pre-screening platform and DNA testing kit gathers genetic, personal and familial information to create an analysis. This data provides guidance to the individual and their healthcare provider to improve patient care and reduce side effects.

Psychedelics Genetic Test Kits are currently available for purchase in Canada for $89. The company expects to have kits available for sale in the United States in the coming months. 

Recognify Life Sciences, an Atai Life Sciences platform that develops treatments for Cognitive Impairment Associated with Schizophrenia (CIAS), has initiated a Phase 2a study for its lead compound RL-007. The company recently received an Investigational New Drug authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

People with CIAS may experience deficits in attention, memory, and executive function severe enough to impact their quality of life and ability for function. There is currently no effective treatment for CIAS. Atai’s goal is to build programs focused on psychedelic and other compounds with differentiated safety profiles and therapeutic potential.

Also this week, Atai announced it had acquired Delaware-based Psyber, a company that develops interventions for various mental health disorders using brain computer interface (BCI)-enabled digital therapeutics. EEG-based BCI devices record electrical activity in the brain for real-time interpretation of emotional, behavioral, and mental states. 

Mind Cure Health Inc., has plugged additional equity into ATMA Journey Centers Inc. (ATMA), a follow-on investment that gets the company to a 13 percent ownership of ATMA. MindCure president and CEO Kelsey Ramsden will join the ATMA board of directors. 

“ATMA’s team is a true pioneer in the psychedelic therapy industry by growing a global network of group and retreat psychedelic therapy clinics,” Ramsden said. “ATMA’s established clinical footprint gives us the opportunity to deploy our iSTRYM technology, with the intended goal to optimize treatment for ATMA’s patients and obtain the data we need to build iSTRYM into the platform trusted by therapists and patients around the world.”

iSTRYM is an investigating technology for both therapists and patients. It focuses on patient feedback and data-driven insights into the efficacy of treatments in order to assist in the application of more effective and more efficient diagnosis techniques and treatments.