Circuit dysfunction is clearly recognized as a driver of neuropsychiatric disease, and some neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease. And at the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) 2022 Congress, researchers made an argument that the same is true in multiple sclerosis (MS). Such a lens could explain the radiological-clinical paradox between the amount of structural damage and clinical severity.
The potential for psychedelics to deliver long-lasting benefits for people with anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction is being put to the test in Australia, where new research and discovery centers are adding to a global enterprise of nearly 100 clinical trials underway in the space.
In the steadily heating-up psychedelics space, Wall Street is closely watching a number of players, among them Compass Pathways plc, which has slated an R&D update for Oct. 12. The check-in could provide guidance for investors on how the FDA regards COMP-360, the firm’s oral psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). It could also help observers guess about the fate of pipeline prospects in the hands of others, including GH Research plc, advancing a would-be TRD fix derived from dried venom secreted by the Bufo alvarius toad.
Not long ago, people who touted the prospects of psychedelic drugs might have been accused of hallucinating, but in the U.S. and elsewhere the space has expanded in recent years, as mental health treatments remain “stuck where cancer was 50 years ago,” said Roth analyst Elemer Piros.
Ninnion LLC, a startup developing psychedelic medicines focused on brain injury, chronic pain, inflammation and addiction disorders, has formed a new scientific board (SAB) that Chief Development Officer Bill Massey said will ”be a tremendous asset in navigating the uncharted waters of psychedelic drug development."
PERTH, Australia – Australia has recently established new research and discovery centers to study psychedelic treatments for mental health disorders. Headquartered Melbourne, the Psychae Institute is a global research collaboration supported by a AU$40 million (US$29 million) investment from a North American biotechnology company.
Preclinical neuroscience firm Delix Therapeutics Inc., a startup developing non-hallucinogenic analogues of psychedelics, has closed a $70 million series A financing. The new funds will help the Boston-based company advance two lead candidates through phase I trials, DLX-1 and DLX-7, with studies planned for starts in late 2022 or early 2023.
DUBLIN – Beckley Psytech Ltd. raised $80 million in an oversubscribed series B round to move its early stage pipeline of psychedelic therapies into the clinic and to continue research on novel compounds with enhanced properties.
Compass Pathways Ltd. has joined with a U.K. hospital and an academic establishment to research the role of psychedelic medicine in new models of mental health care. The London-based company signed a memorandum of understanding with South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London to launch the project.
