Transcend Therapeutics Raises $40M In Series A Round Led By Alpha Wave Global And Integrated VC

Transcend Therapeutics closed a Series A funding round of $40 million with leading support from Alpha Wave Global and Integrated Investment Partners. 

Founded in 2021 and incubated by leading early-stage VS AlleyCorp, the next-generation psychoactive medicines company has raised nearly $42 million to date and expects to use the new funding for the launch of several clinical trials including a Phase 2 study on its lead compound.

As a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), Transcend has pledged 10% of its founding shares toward nonprofits dedicated to scientific research and patient access.

Transcend does not focus on classical psychedelics but rather on the psychoactive compound methylene; the proprietary name is TSND-201. 

See also: Psychoactive Biotech Startup Gets $30M Series A Financing For Novel Drug Discovery Engine

This next-gen compound has short-acting and mild psychological effects, thus requiring less clinician time. It can potentially be used as an adjunctive treatment to existing pharmacotherapies, making it suitable to integrate into the existing psychiatric paradigm and healthcare infrastructure.

Noticeably, TSND-201 holds previous human experience, that is real-world data in treating patients with PTSD and demonstrating robust responses. 

"Mental health diseases are one of the leading causes of disability in the US and globally, yet available treatments are ineffective for many patients, can take weeks to kick in, and frequently have chronic side effects. At Transcend, we're working to change that, starting by bringing a next-generation compound, methylone, to market as a potential rapid-acting, disease-modifying, non-hallucinogenic treatment for neuropsychiatric conditions like PTSD," said co-founder and CEO Blake Mandell.

Transcend co-founder/chairman and AlleyCorp founder/CEO Kevin Ryan says the current advancements in mental healthcare hold a parallel to those of the Internet in 1996.

“Even the most hopeful people underestimate its impact on the world,” Ryan stated, adding that Transcend’s work “has the potential to completely change how people are treated for PTSD and depression" by bringing together “the world's leaders in drug development and psychiatric research” and pushing together this industry forward “into new, highly promising territory."

Alpha Wave Global co-founder and CIO Rick Gerson said Transcend’s combination of team and “well-characterized lead compound” have the potential “to make a meaningful impact in the lives of millions." He said he was confident that the new funding will accelerate the firm's work to bring methylone to market sooner while beginning to build out a pipeline of other promising compounds.

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Photo: Benzinga edit with photo by chrissmith12 and Bru-nO on Pixabay.