Psychedelic Business Spotlight – April 8

Field Trip Health Granted U.S. Patent Covering Novel Psychedelic Molecule FT-104

Kicking off this week’s psychedelic business news roundup, Field Trip Health (NASDAQ: FTRP, TSX: FTRP) has been granted a United States patent protecting its first novel psychedelic molecule FT-104 (informally known as Isoprocin Glutarate). The next-generation drug seeks to provide a shorter, consistent and more convenient 2-3 hour psychoactive experience with subjective effects and clinical efficacy of a classical serotonin psychedelic, like psilocybin. “A shorter duration could make FT-104 a more convenient psychedelic drug to treat mental health conditions like treatment-resistant depression and postpartum depression,” says Field Trip’s Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Nathan Bryson. The patent grants the company exclusive rights to the composition of matter, use and manufacturing of a family of hemi-ester compounds of hydroxytryptamines, including FT-104, until 2040.

Core One Labs Upgrades to OTCQB Venture Market

A few weeks after Core One Labs (CSE: COOL) announced it is “working to investigate investment and potential takeover opportunities by strategic psychedelics or pharmaceutical companies,” the biopharmaceutical company has upgraded from the OTC Pink Market to the OTCQB Venture Market, commencing trading under the ticket symbol CLABF this past Wednesday. According to CEO Joel Shacker, “Upgrading to the OTCQB is a timely and important milestone for Core One, as it will not only lead to increased corporate visibility in the US marketplace, it also has the potential to significantly enhance our liquidity and broaden our access to institutional and retail investors.”

GABA Therapeutics Appoints New CEO and CMO

GABA Therapeutics, an atai Life Sciences-owned clinical-stage biotechnology company, appointed Mario David Saltarelli M.D., Ph.D. as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Medical Officer this week, succeeding former CEO and co-founder, Dr. Ian J. Massey. “Mario is the ideal leader to support GABA in advancing its lead compound, GRX-917, into phase 2 efficacy studies in anxiety, depression and other neurological indications, and in progressing GABA’s earlier stage, novel small molecule Rapid Acting Antidepressant (RAAD) program,” says Massey.

BetterLife Advances LSD Derivative for Depression

BetterLife Pharma (CSE: BETR, OTCQB: BETRF, FRA: NPAU) shared good news for investors excited about the potential of the biotech company’s lead compound BETR-001, an LSD derivative (2-bromo-LSD) that aspires to mimic the therapeutic potential of the classic psychedelic compound without causing psychedelic effects, such as hallucinations. BetterLife’s collaboration with the laboratory of Dr. Argel Aguilar-Valles at Carleton University’s Department of Neuroscience has determined a single dose of the second-generation molecule reduced depressive-like behavior of mice. CEO Dr. Ahmad Doroudian says these preclinical results are “consistent with 2-bromo-LSD’s 5-HT2A agonist activity, promotion of neural plasticity, and its anti-depressant effect in stress-induced preclinical depression model… The mounting evidence on BETR-001 efficacy in preclinical models of depression leaves little doubt on its therapeutic potential in depression and related disorders.”