Next-Generation Psychedelics: The Case Of MEAI And Its Potential To Treat Addiction

(Part one of a four-part series)

Increasing evidence of psychedelics’ potential for benefiting both mental and physical health conditions are moving biotech companies and scientists in the sector to major innovative heights.

Psychedelic science is growing in terms of treatment specificity, as each novel or classical compound targets and aims to ameliorate or cure particular health conditions. Towards this goal, researchers are working to develop substances that hold on to the benefits and let go of the side effects of original, "first-generation" psychedelic substances.

This is what a common definition of next-generation psychedelics looks like.

In order to help familiarize our readers with this new field, Benzinga interviewed the CEO and regulatory development advisor of an Israeli-based psychedelics company, which is researching addiction treatment with a molecule called MEAI.

Clearmind Medicine Inc. CMND, began operations in May 2021, is led by CEO Dr. Adi Zuloff-Shani, Ph.D., a biomedical research and development executive with 20 years experience in strategic and operational leadership in the healthcare industry. 

How does the Clearmind-owned MEAI molecule relate to the next-generation psychedelics wave?

“Because the next-gen psychedelics mainly focus on reducing or removing some of the adverse effects of first-generation psychedelics –that’s the main reason for developing this 2.0 generation, we want to take the good from the ‘old generation’ and take it to the next step,- one of the things everyone is looking for is to have an effect without the hallucinogenic property of the psychedelics,” Dr. Zuloff-Shani told Benzinga.

MEAI is a non-hallucinogenic psychoactive compound. Actually, the substance is part of the indane family of molecules, first explicitly and pharmacologically described by Profs. David Nutt and Ezekiel Golan in a peer-reviewed paper in 2017 and later followed by further pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and metabolism descriptions in 2018. 

MEAI was an early replacement drug candidate for alcohol addiction, coming to market during a 2010 movement to replace alcohol with less-toxic alternatives.

Another reason for the development of this new generation of psychedelic compounds is IP protection. If compounds themselves are not innovative, or most of their uses have already been published, no protection can be created. 

In this sense, MEAI seems to be different, considering the patents so far granted on the compound itself as well as on various indications and even as an alcohol substitute.

Part two in this series: Next-Generation Psychedelics, MEAI: How And Why

Photo: Benzinga edit with photo Raimundo79 and Sergey Nivens on Shutterstock.