Biotech Company Pasithea Offers Two-Pronged Approach in Psychiatric Treatment

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.

Photo by Dimitri Karastelev on Unsplash

Pasithea Therapeutics KTTA, a Florida-based biotechnology company, strives to discover new treatments for mental and neurological disorders and establishes psychiatric clinics in the US and UK to offer ketamine infusion services.

The Miami-based company, which closed its approximately $24 million Initial Public Offering (IPO) in September — joining the ranks of other recent medical IPOs such as Monte Rosa Therapeutics Inc. GLUE and Ambrx Biopharma Inc - ADR AMAM — describes its primary focus as on the drug discovery side, targeting new medicines and treatments focused on the pathophysiology underlying these disorders. Such new treatments should be able to offer superior approaches to targeted disorders with respect to efficacy and tolerability, the company says.

Its secondary focus is establishing clinics in both the United States and the United Kingdom to offer ketamine infusion services for the treatment of psychiatric disorders, such as Treatment-Resistant Depression of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Ketamine is an FDA-approved drug and has been used for many years as an anesthetic. However, it has recently been repurposed for the treatment of psychiatric disorders using significantly lower doses than other forms of anesthesia, with remarkable efficacy. In psychiatry, a typical treatment plan consists of up to 6 infusions in the interval of two to three weeks.

In the United States, Pasithea has entered an exclusive agreement with IV Doc, one of the largest mobile medical infusions companies, to be able to deliver ketamine infusions in the comfort of a patient’s home. All ketamine treatments are provided by board-certified medical staff. This will allow Pasithea to operate in a capital-light way and quickly expand throughout the major cities in the US. 

Many psychiatric patients experience symptoms such as social isolation, acute anxiety, lethargy, and lack of motivation. By offering ketamine infusion treatment at the patient's house, Pasithea believes it is providing a service to many patients who struggle to leave their own accommodations, and without the constraints associated with visiting a clinic.

In the United Kingdom, Pasithea has an exclusive agreement with Zen Healthcare, a large healthcare group with clinics in the most affluent areas of London. Pasithea will be one of the few clinics in all of the UK providing this innovative treatment.

Pasithea Leadership Earns Industry-Wide Respect from Publishing and Research Background in Field

The company’s CEO is Dr. Tiago Reis Marques, an academic psychiatrist at the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IOPPN) at King’s College London. The IOPPN produces more highly cited outputs (top 1% citations) on mental health than any other centre in the word. The author of over 100 scientific publications in peer-reviewed psychiatry and neuroscience journals, Dr. Reis Marques has co-authored international treatment guidelines and book chapters and has received numerous honors and awards for his research.

The company's Chairman is Prof. Lawrence Steinman, ​a professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Pediatrics, and Genetics at Stanford University Medical School. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine. His research in multiple sclerosis culminated in a potent therapeutic called Natalizumab. He was honored with the John M. Dystel Prize from the American Academy of Neurology and the National MS Society for his research on MS, and the Charcot Prize for Lifetime Achievement in MS research. 

The company trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker KTTA. The company’s IPO was offered at $5 a share.

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.