Psychedelic Research Expands In Australia With Palliative Care Partnership & New MDMA Analog Portfolio

Psyence Partners with iNGENū for Palliative Care Clinical Trial

Life sciences biotech company Psyence Group Inc PSYGF’s wholly-owned Australian subsidiary Psyence Australia Pty Ltd. partnered with Contract Research Organization (CRO) iNGENū Pty Ltd to conduct a Phase 2b clinical trial of psilocybin for palliative care.

iNGENū will design and perform Psyence’s first clinical study in palliative care using Filament Health FLHLF's natural psilocybin drug candidate PEX010. The psychedelic will be studied in a 25 mg oral capsule format.

The randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial will assess the use of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy vs. psychotherapy alone in over 75 patients with adjustment disorder due to a recent terminal cancer diagnosis. 

“By partnering with iNGENu, we will benefit from their experience as a leading psychedelic CRO. In addition, the Australian federal government's R&D tax incentive program, which can provide up to a 43.5% rebate on our expenses, makes it a very cost-effective endeavor,” said Psyence’s CEO Dr. Neil Maresky.

On behalf of iNGENū, CEO Dr. Sud Agarwal added: “Being able to help this vulnerable patient group who are suffering major mental health issues secondary to their cancer diagnosis, will be very rewarding professionally.”

Emyria Grows MDMA Assets For Neurological & Mental Health Therapy

Following the recent TGA decision to reschedule MDMA and psilocybin as controlled medicines from July 1st, 2023, Australia-based clinical-stage biotech company Emyria Ltd. is expanding its MDMA analogs library in an exclusive partnership with the University of Western Australia (UWA.)

A batch of 19 MDMA-inspired Novel Chemical Entities (NCEs) was sent for preliminary (preclinical) screening to Eurofins, adding up to the now over 150 compounds in the company’s portfolio. 

Emyria’s aim is to develop faster-acting MDMA for PTSD therapy towards expanding access, as well as MDMA analogs to address the classical psychedelic’s side effects on Parkinson's treatment.

With the new batch, the company expects to select lead compounds for pre-IND enabling studies in the second half of 2023.

Benzinga Psychedelics Capital Conference

The second edition of the Benzinga Psychedelics Capital Conference is coming your way! 

The event will take place at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach Hotel in Florida on April 13, 2023. This is THE place to get DEALS DONE, raise money, jumpstart M&A and meet investors and key partners. 

Get your tickets now before prices go up.

Photo: Benzinga edit with photos by Augusto Cabral, eskymaks and billion photos on Shutterstock.