Bright Minds' Second-Gen Psychedelic Drugs Ready to Be Embraced by Investors, Big Pharma

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.
Bright Minds Biosciences BMBIF, a Canadian-based biotechnology company, is developing the next-generation serotonergic drugs to treat various central nervous system (CNS) disorders.

Over the years, first-generation psychedelics have been used to treat mental health disorders. Those drugs have had their fair share of issues. It is these issues and side effects that Bright Minds is fixing with their second-generation drugs.

Issues with First-Generation Psychedelics

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) act on many serotonin receptors snipand are not specific to a particular receptor type, while first-generation psychedelics act on three 5-HT receptors, primarily 5-HT2A and also 5-HT2B receptors. Drugs that target 5-HT2B receptors, such as fenfluramine, have proven to be toxic and have been withdrawn from the market.

The hallucinogenic experience provided by classic psychedelics is too long-lasting and requires supervision or special clinical settings and trained staff.

Moreover, classic psychedelics can’t be given strong IP protection as they are naturally occurring or have been known for a long time. This makes them unlikely to draw large profits or be acquired by Big Pharma.  

Bright Minds CEO Ian McDonald, speaking at the Benzinga Global Small Cap Conference on May 17, said that current compounds on the market “lacked a lot of the drug-like characteristics necessary for them to be embraced by Big Pharma. What we’ve done is assemble a team to create the next generation of drugs that address those liabilities associated with the first group of compounds so that these drugs can be brought to a greater patient population.”

Bright Minds Portfolio of Novel Compounds 

Bright Minds has three types of compounds it plans to bring to the market, each targeting different indications: chronic pain management, epilepsy and mental health disorders (depression, Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and addiction).

The company has engineered superior molecules with improvements to current state-of-the-art technology and research, including targeting specific serotonin receptors (5-HT2C, 5-HT2A/C and 5-HT2A) in the brain, improving safety and efficacy.

The portfolio of patented compounds includes three different types of compounds that are being tested for different indications:

• 5-HT2C + 5-HT2A agonists: These compounds are being tested for chronic pain disorders like cluster headaches and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.
• 5-HT2C agonists: This non-hallucinogenic psychedelic (new psychedelic chemotype) is being tested for epilepsy and different types of addiction such as compulsive eating and opioid use disorder. 
• 5-HT2A agonists: These are being tested to target depression and PTSD. 

Bright Minds has completed several animal studies, including studies on different types of addiction and epilepsy. The company’s 5-HT2C compounds have shown significant efficacy in compulsive eating disorders and opioid use disorders in animal studies conducted at the University of Texas in March this year.

The company has partnered with the National Institutes of Health for preclinical screening programs for chronic pain management and epilepsy to advance its research and trials.

IP Protection 

Next-generation psychedelic compounds are novel and not naturally occurring, which means they are patentable and, most importantly, protectable. Bright Minds Biosciences has a composition of matter patent for its compounds, which offers stronger protection than the method of use or formulation patents. That is what pharmaceutical companies are looking for when it comes to acquiring an asset.

Ian McDonald, CEO of Bright Minds Biosciences

Dr. Gideon Shapiro, also speaking at the Benzinga Global Small Cap Conference on May 17, said that first-generation drugs are a concern when doing business with Big Pharma, unlike second-generation drugs. “What you’re left with is a generic drug, which means basically anybody can sell it after some relatively minor legal and regulatory hurdles.”

Finances 

Since its launch in 2017, the company has raised a total of around $30 million, mostly from private investors.

Bright Minds is currently in the process of uplisting to Nasdaq. The company will start trading on Nasdaq within 2 to 3 months under the symbol $DRUG. Bright Minds will be the fourth company in the psychedelic space to trade on Nasdaq.

Commenting on the plans for the NASDAQ listing, McDonald said, “We believe that this is an ideal time for Bright Minds to announce its plans to move to a leading national stock exchange. BMB is already moving to the clinic with a patented 5-HT2C drug for use in epilepsy. Moreover, having developed a robust pipeline of novel, best-in-class 5-HT2A/2C [serotonin] agonists that refine and build on the first-generation natural compound approaches, Bright Minds has laid a solid foundation to become the frontrunner in psychedelic drug-inspired medicine.”

“We are very excited to list on Nasdaq and see it as a critical step in our evolution as a public company. The additional capital markets exposure will elevate our company profile with the biotechnology investment community, broaden and diversify our investor base, and most importantly, continue to support our efforts to design and develop next-generation therapeutics that address difficult-to-treat indications across mental health disorders, epilepsy and pain management,” he added.

About Bright Minds

Bright Minds is focused on developing novel transformative treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders, epilepsy and pain. The company has a portfolio of next-generation serotonin agonists designed to precisely target abnormalities in neurocircuitry that lead to dysfunctional behaviors.

The company is developing targeted therapies with the potential to improve the treatment of mental health and neurological disorders through the use of serotonergic compounds, leveraging its world-class scientific and drug development expertise to bring forward the next generation of safe and efficacious medicines.

Bright Minds drugs extenuate the therapeutic aspects of psychedelic and other serotonergic compounds while minimizing the side effects, thereby creating superior drugs to first-generation compounds, such as psilocybin.

For more information, visit the company website here.

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.