EXCLUSIVE: Catalysts To Watch For In The Psychedelic Space

Any biotech investor knows how important catalysts are for the companies in the space. One FDA approval or denial can make or break the price of the stock. 

In the psychedelic space, catalysts could be even more important, as the industry as a whole is still in its infancy. 

At the Benzinga Psychedelic Capital Conference, four thought leaders sat down Tuesday for a panel discussion regarding upcoming catalysts for the psychedelic industry. 

The four panelists were Doug Drysdale, CEO of Cybin Inc CYBN; Joel Stanley, CEO of AJNA Sciences; Natalie Ginsberg, global impact officer at MAPS; and Daniel Carcillo, CEO of Wesana Health Holdings WSNAF.

Related Link: EXCLUSIVE: How Cybin Is Developing The Next Generation Of Psychedelics

The FDA And Psychedelics: FDA approvals are one of the most crucial catalysts for biotech and psychedelic companies. As most psychedelic companies are creating therapies for a wide variety of issues on the mental health spectrum, it can make pinning down a target demographic difficult. 

Cybin's Drysdale said that he thinks doing a better job of defining the patient population would help psychedelic companies progress through the FDA process. 

“In drug development, the patient population has to be very well defined with clinical endpoints in order to move anything through the FDA,” Drysdale said. 

MAPS has been successful with the FDA, recently completing a Phase 3 trial that showed strong efficacy of its MDMA-derived therapeutic for PTSD. 

“It’s very rare for a nonprofit to get FDA approval,” Ginsberg said. 

The Last Word: Another potential catalyst discussed was M&A. 

Drysdale said many companies in the space are in a prime position to be acquired.

“I think the landscape will look very different a year from now.”