Truffle Report has compiled a roundup of major psychedelic business and investment news from August 16-20, making it easier for you to access these insights in one place.
atai Life Sciences
On August 16, atai Life Sciences reported its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021 and provided a corporate update.
“In the second quarter of 2021, we made significant advancements to build our business and successfully completed an initial public offering on Nasdaq, raising approximately US$258.8 million in gross proceeds,” said Florian Brand, CEO and co-founder of atai. “We have the financial resources to maximize the value of our decentralized drug development platform for improved probability of clinical success and leverage the value of our transformative pipeline. 2021 continues to be a pivotal year for atai with multiple upcoming catalysts across our expanding pipeline.”
Developments contained in the report included:
- Successfully completing Initial Public Offering on Nasdaq raising $258.8 million in gross proceeds, including the underwriters’ over-allotment
- Receiving $20 million upfront payment from Otsuka as part of the first major collaboration between a biopharmaceutical company developing psychedelics and large pharma
- Advancement of 11 therapeutic programs, including initiation of Recognify’s Phase 2 and GABA’s Phase 1 trials
- 18 significant catalysts across atai’s platform anticipated over next 18 months including two clinical trials to be completed and four clinical trials to be initiated in 2021Solidified leadership position with strong cash position of $453.6 million to advance our current programs and incubate, acquire and invest in new programs
Field Trip Health
On August 16, Field Trip Health Ltd reported its fiscal first quarter 2022 results for the three months ending June 30, 2021. All results are reported under International Financial Reporting Standards and in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise specified.
Developments contained in the report included:
- At June 30, Field Trip had approximately $100 million in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents, funds held in trust, and short-term investments
- Development of FT-104, a novel psychedelic molecule with pending patents, continues to progress with GMP production achieved
- Field Trip remains on track to meet milestone of 20 sites open or under construction by December 2021
Cybin Inc
On August 17, Cybin Inc. announced the filing of a new non-provisional patent application in support of its ongoing drug candidate programs.
After what the company believes to be a favorable international search report of its May 2021 Patent Cooperation Treaty application, Cybin has filed a US non-provisional patent application claiming priority to the May 2021 PCT application.
The International Patent Searching authority has provided a written opinion supporting novelty, inventive steps and industrial applicability to multiple claims within Cybin’s patent filing. The Patent filing includes claims to compositions and methods to support certain elements of the company’s pre-clinical and research programs.
“Cybin’s portfolio now consists of 14 patent filings, 50+ proprietary molecules, 50+ preclinical studies, 4 active drug programs targeting major depressive disorder, alcohol use disorder, anxiety and therapy resistant psychiatric disorders. We continue to progress our IP portfolio across novel molecules, delivery mechanisms, processes and protocols as we continue to find new and novel discoveries through our preclinical findings thus expanding and strengthening IP,” stated Doug Drysdale, Chief Executive Officer.
On August 19th, Cybin announced that it has filed two additional international patent applications that bring the potential to obtain patent coverage in 153 countries for each of the patent applications.
The application, governed by the Patent Cooperation Treaty, grants Cybin the right to file future national applications into treaty member jurisdictions, including important potential markets. The PCTs claim a library of phenethylamine and derivative drug development candidates and methods of use.
MindMed
On August 17, Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. joined the Critical Path Institute’s Patient-Reported Outcome Consortium to assist in the development of new approaches to advance medical innovation and regulatory science.
C-Path ( www.c-path.org ) has multiple active consortia and programs that leverage knowledge sharing to spur innovation. MindMed will participate in C-Path’s PRO Consortium, contributing to its collaborative framework for qualification of clinical outcome assessments for use as efficacy endpoint measures in clinical trials.
“We welcome the opportunity to contribute our expertise in real-world data collection. Working with this industry leading effort gives us an opportunity to shape best practices in clinical evaluation and digital measurement,” said MindMed’s Chief Medical Officer Daniel Karlin, MD MA. “Technological advancement is allowing us to predict individual disease trajectories and outcomes, and enables us to build models of specific patterns and clusters of patient experiences. This progress paves the way for a new phase of personalized precision medicine.”
Mydecine Innovations
On August 18, Mydecine Innovations Group announced it has signed a five-year research agreement with Johns Hopkins University (JHU) School of Medicine, with research to be led by Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Matthew W. Johnson, Ph. D. The Johns Hopkins Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit has extensive experience conducting clinical research related to therapeutic use of psychedelics.
Mydecine CEO Josh Bartch said, “We are excited to expand on the current work we are conducting with Dr. Matt Johnson and his team at JHU in regards to smoking cessation to include numerous other projects over the next five years. The researchers at JHU have proven their incredible depth of knowledge in the field.”
Revive Therapeutics
On August 17, Revive Therapeutics Ltd. announced that it has has entered into an exclusive license agreement with Puerto Rico Science Technology and Research Trust, representing Universidad Central del Caribe and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, for intellectual property (International Patent Application No. PCT/US2020/017053/) titled, Biologically Active Ganoderma Lucidum Compounds and Synthesis of Anticancer Derivatives; Ergosterol Peroxide Probes for Cellular Localization. Researchers at St. Jude and UCC have characterized medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum compounds with anti-cancer activity, specifically significant activity against breast cancer, thus having the potential to treat the most aggressive types of breast cancers such as triple negative breast cancer and inflammatory breast cancer.
Michael Frank, CEO of the Company commented, “We are very excited about the new addition to our clinical-stage product pipeline as part of our long-term strategy of unlocking the therapeutic potential of medicinal mushrooms such as psilocybin and Ganoderma lucidum to treat mental health, substance abuse and aggressive cancers. Our intention is to build off from the research conducted at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and UCC by advancing towards FDA IND-enabling studies to allow for human clinical studies.”
PsyBio Therapeutics
On Aug. 16, PsyBio Therapeutics Corp. filed a new provisional patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office entitled Methods for the Production of a Methylated Tryptamines and Intermediates or Side Products, adding additional methylated tryptamines including compounds such as N,N-Dimethyltryptamine and associated analogs for development of potential treatments for a variety of human health conditions. PsyBio’s intellectual property portfolio now includes seven pending provisionals and one pending non-provisional patent application.
The addition of methylated tryptamines with pending patent protection is focused on the potential improvement of treatments for mental health conditions including depression, anxiety and addiction, as well as other psychological and neurological conditions.
Psyched Wellness
On August 17, Psyched Wellness Ltd. announced the company has submitted applications to the United States Patent and Trademark office for four further provisional patents surrounding the Company’s flagship product – AME-1.
MindSet Pharma
On August 16, Mindset Pharma Inc. announced that the Patent Cooperation Treaty has published three patent applications, covering a range of Mindset’s Family 1 and Family 2 compounds, under the publication numbers: WO/2021/155467, WO/2021/155468, and WO/2021/155470.
NeonMind Biosciences
On August 17, NeonMind Biosciences Inc. announced that Health Canada has approved its application for Product License NPN 80111611, the ‘Mindful Blend’ functional mushroom product.
Natural Health Products require and undergo rigorous review by Health Canada’s Natural Health Product Directorate to ensure the safety and efficacy of the product. NeonMind’s consumer products do not contain any psychoactive or restricted substances.
