NeonMind Goes Public, Plans To Study Functional Mushrooms And Psilocybin As Treatments

Psychedelics biotech company NeonMind debuted on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) Monday under the symbol ‘NEON.’

The listing comes after the company successfully closed its fully subscribed initial public offering on Dec. 30, for proceeds of about CA$4.6 million ($3.6 million).

“NeonMind's IPO was highly anticipated and was oversubscribed. We are very excited about this next phase of growth for the company and have big plans for both our psilocybin research and medicinal mushroom products,” said to Benzinga NeonMind founder and CEO Penny White.

An Oversubscribed IPO: The Vancouver-based company became the first psychedelics company to go public this year, following the path of over two dozen companies in the sector that hit the public markets in 2020.

NeonMind is a partially owned subsidiary of Better Plant Sciences Inc. PLNT VEGGF, which owns more than 33.3 million common shares in the company. The IPO released 46 million units of NeonMind —composed of one share and one share purchase warrant — at a price of CA$0.10 per unit.

Functional Mushrooms: In November 2020, NeonMind launched a line of non-psychedelic functional mushroom products available through its own ecommerce store. The  mushroom-infused coffee products feature medicinal mushrooms like Lion’s Mane, Turkey Tail, Reishi and Cordyceps.

Psilocybin for Weight Loss and Obesity: NeonMind’s psychedelics research arm is focused on studying the possible applications of psilocybin in the treatment of eating disorders. So far, it filed five provisional patent applications claiming the use of psilocybin and other psychedelics as possible treatments.

Through a research partnership with the University of British Columbia, NeonMind received Health Canada approval to begin a preclinical trial examining psilocybin as a potential treatment to promote and cause weight loss and to reduce food cravings. The trial was launched last November.

The company is currently developing protocols for a phase II human clinical trial on the same subject, which it expects to present for approval in early 2021.

Photo by Diana Parkhouse on Unsplash