NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Last year may have been all about cannabis, but it’s clear that 2020 and beyond belongs to the psychedelic medicine market. Ever since Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:JNJ) ketamine-derived medicine, Spravato, received the first nod of approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) back in March 2019, the nascent industry has completely taken off. The FDA has since offered up Breakthrough Therapy Designation to COMP360, developed by Compass Pathways‘ (NASDAQ:CMPS), which just IPO’d on the Nasdaq, while Revive Therapeutics’ (CSE:RVV) (OTC:RVVTF) is working on advancing psilocybin-based therapeutics for various diseases and disorders. Even Big Pharma giant AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) made a move for the psychedelic drugs market through the acquisition of Allergan PLC and the rights to a novel psychedelic-based treatment for MDD. However, it seems that pure-play psychedelic med company Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. (NEO:MMED) (OTCQB:MMEDF) is a front-runner in the psychedelic market with its groundbreaking Phase 1 MDMA-LSD clinical trial and an application to uplist to the Nasdaq. Mind Medicine is also pursuing a Phase 2 study of LSD for the treatment of anxiety disorders in partnership with Dr. Matthias Liechti and Dr. Peter Gasser.
Mind Medicine is a neuro-pharmaceutical company that has initiated clinical studies to evaluate potential treatments to help patients with ADHD, anxiety, and substance abuse. Last month, the company announced its plan to launch the first-ever LSD-MDMA clinical trial in January 2021 to determine if the combination of drugs is safe for human use. Dr. Matthias Liechti, who is one of the world’s leaders in psychopharmacology research, will be conducting the double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 1 study with 24 healthy volunteers in his lab at University Hospital Basel in Switzerland.
Mind Medicine also recently concluded dosing in a Phase 1 Single Ascending Dose (SAD) study of 18-MC, a non-hallucinogenic molecule based on the psychedelic substance ibogaine, and plans to begin the Phase 2a study of 18-MC in opioid addiction by the end of this year. Luckily, the company ended the second quarter with a strong cash position of $24 million to execute multiple clinical trials, which should help with its application for uplisting on the Nasdaq Capital Market. New York-based Mind Medicine appointed Canaccord Genuity as financial advisor to assess the viability of a potential uplisting to NASDAQ and evaluate M&A opportunities available to the company.
Investments into Psychedelic Medicine Market Continue to Soar
It may have been Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) that kickstarted psychedelic medicines’ move into the mainstream with its ketamine-like drug treatment, but the market has grown exponentially since and regulators aren’t the only ones who are changing their perception of psychedelic medicine. Thanks to Johnson & Johnson’s Spravato, which was the first new depression treatment in decades, investors are finally beginning to see the potential benefits of psychedelics for combating mental illness. In fact, the psychedelic drug market is now projected to grow at a CAGR of 16.3% and reach $6.85 billion by 2027 due to the increasing prevalence of depression and mental disorders in the US.
Last September, a group of private investors put together $17 million to start the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine, creating the first psychedelic research center in the US and the largest research center of its kind on the planet.
Then in April, the sector experienced the largest-ever private financing round of $80 million for the newly listed Compass Pathways (NASDAQ:CMPS). The round included PayPal co-founder, Peter Thiel, a legendary Silicon Valley billionaire investor who was an early business partner of Elon Musk. On September 18, Compass entered the public markets with an initial public offering price of $17.00 per share and has since shot up to close at $38.39 last Tuesday.