4 Stocks Disrupting Mental Health To Keep An Eye On At Benzinga's Healthcare Conference

The healthcare sector is booming and startups are the driving force behind the innovations that will affect the future of life on earth.

Running its last day on Thursday, Benzinga’s Healthcare Small Cap Conference provides investors and analysts with conversations and presentations from publicly traded companies and key figures behind this burgeoning sector.

Disrupting healthcare is the emerging sector of psychedelic medicine, which aims to bring substances like LSD and psilocybin mushrooms to the forefront of mental health treatments.

Below are some of the companies leading the “psychedelic renaissance,” which are participating in this important Benzinga event.

Cybin Inc. CYBN is a company in the psychedelics sector, developing second-generation psychedelics for mental health and other indications.

The company was part of the Benzinga Global Small Cap Conference last May and since then its price has gone up over 50%, with a current stock price of $2.2.

Cybin became the first psychedelics company to go public on the NYSE in August, with a pipeline that includes a proprietary formulation of psilocybin (the active ingredient in so-called “magic mushrooms”), currently in phase 2 clinical trials.

The program, called CYB001, uses a sublingual film containing psilocybin and is targeting major depressive disorder.

Last month, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage of Cybin with an Overweight rating and a 12-month price target of $9.

MindMed MNMD is a platform company developing multiple psychedelic molecules for a variety of mental health indications.

The company was also part of the Benzinga Global Small Cap Conference this past May, wherein its founder and former CEO JR Rahn introduced the company. 

Since then, Rahn has stepped out as CEO, leaving Rob Barrow in charge.

MindMed began trading on the Nasdaq in April, opening the floodgates for a wave of capital investments in the sector. The company recently announced the launch of a phase 1 trial using DMT, the active compound in ayahuasca.

The company boasts a diverse pipeline with multiple programs developing psychedelic substances for FDA approval, including two phase 2 clinical trials on LSD for anxiety disorders and cluster headaches.

Novamind NM is a company building a network of clinics to provide psychedelics-assisted psychotherapy and clinical research into psychedelic molecules.

Through the acquisition of Cedar Psychiatry and Cedar Clinical Research, Novamind gained a firm footing in the sector. The company now owns and operates five psychiatry clinics in Utah, with three more coming soon, wherein ketamine-assisted therapy is offered as well as other mental health services and treatments.

The clinics’ research arm works as a contract research organization for a number of clinical studies by partner organizations.

Enveric ENVB is a biotech company working with cannabinoids and other molecules in the treatment of cancer-related disorders. The company recently became part of the psychedelics sector with the purchase of MagicMed,

which came through earlier in September.

With MagicMed on its roster, the company added a library of IP from novel derivative molecules based on classic psychedelics such as psilocybin, DMT, mescaline, ibogaine, MDMA and LSD.

As a result of the acquisition, Enveric now features a new drug discovery and research arm with a strong focus on psychedelic drugs and cannabinoids.

Currently, Enveric is pushing preclinical work on CBD for radiation dermatitis and glioblastoma and is also researching a compound in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced pain.

Photo: Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Condensée / Laboratoire PMC / unité mixte CNRS-Ecole Polytechnique (UMR 7643) Crédit photographique : © École polytechnique - J.Barande on Wikimedia Commons