Psyched: CaamTech Raises $22M, Mydecine To Launch Smoking Cessation Trial, Michigan Bill Could Decriminalize Psychedelics

Last Week In Psychedelics:

1. CaamTech Raises $22M With A Broad Portfolio Of Novel Psychedelic Drugs
2. Octarine Bio and Clerkenwell Health Partner Up For Clinical Trials
3. Mydecine To Launch Smoking Cessation Clinical Trial With Johns Hopkins University
4. DMT Found To Stimulate Growth Of Neurons In Vitro
5. A Bill Introduced In Michigan Could Decriminalize Psychedelics
6. The Milestone Round

CaamTech Raises $22M With A Broad Portfolio Of Novel Psychedelic Drugs

Psychedelic drug development company CaaMTech closed a $22 million Series A financing round.

“We have been screening hundreds of preclinical compounds in parallel and have now curated a collection of about a dozen clinical candidates that have desirable properties,” said CaamTech CEO Dr. Andrew Chadeayne in an interview with Benzinga.

“We are very excited to have 'psychedelic' compounds that offer a wide spectrum of biological properties, suggesting that they could have value in different contexts. For example, we have compounds that can offer a broad range of onset times, durations of action, potencies, etc.,” Chadeayne said.

Sa’ad Shah, a managing partner at Noetic who led the raise, said CaamTech’s science-driven approach was one of the company’s traits that first caught the fund’s eye and that this has been, by far, one of Noetic’s largest investments to date.

“We think that they're the most advanced and sophisticated IP company in the psychedelic space. And we certainly feel that they're poised to become one of the most valuable companies in the psychedelic space,” Shah said.

Octarine Bio and Clerkenwell Health Partner Up For Clinical Trials

Octarine Bio, a Danish drug development company that produces psilocybin from sugar using fermentation methods, announced a new partnership with Clerkenwell Health, a UK-based psychedelic-specialist contract research organization.

“Through the partnership, Octarine now has access to services from Clerkenwell Health to expedite its clinical development with biosynthetic psilocybin and expects to be able to fast-track steps leading to human clinical trials,” said the companies in a press release.

Octarine produces psilocybin in a genetically modified version of the yeast fungi. Yeast is a very close relative of Psilocybe mushrooms from an evolutionary point of view, noted the company.

According to Octarine, this method can bring costs down while ensuring more sustainability and supply chain stability as compared to other methods of production for psilocybin like chemical synthesis or mushroom extraction.

Mydecine To Launch Smoking Cessation Clinical Trial With Johns Hopkins University

Mydecine Innovations Group MYCO MYCOF has disclosed that it is partnering with Johns Hopkins University in a study that will evaluate the administration of MYCO-001 in a smoking cessation treatment program for nicotine-dependent individuals. The effort is part of Mydecine's previously announced collaboration with Johns Hopkins University.

MYCO-001 is part of Mydecine’s proprietary psychedelic molecule pipeline.

The research will run under the direction of Dr. Matthew Johnson at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. The planned placebo-controlled phase 2/3 clinical trial is projected to launch in the first quarter of 2022 and could be completed by the end of that year.

“The work of Dr. Johnson will inform as to how we can best build upon the academic success seen in this field and advance real world treatment options for the patients who desperately need them,” said Rob Roscow, chief science officer of Mydecine.

DMT Found To Stimulate Growth Of Neurons In Vitro

An in vitro trial conducted by Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc. AGN AGNPF using a proprietary version of DMT called AP-188 found that the compound increased the growth of neurons by 40% when compared to a control assay using ketamine.

In the study, cortical neurons from rats were treated with DMT for one hour and then allowed to grow for three days.

The company reported that these concentrations are well below measured levels in humans required to achieve psychedelic effects, though, in order to conclude that the doses are sub-hallucinogenic, clinical research needs to be conducted.

"These exciting in vitro data provide further evidence supporting the use of DMT in stroke, and strongly suggest that low doses and short exposure times are feasible,” said Dr. Rick Strassman, stroke program consultant for Algernon.

The study was meant to identify a correct blood concentration and exposure time that the company will target in its upcoming phase 1 study on DMT. This research will try to optimize the neuroplastic effects of DMT without triggering hallucinations in human patients.

A Bill Introduced In Michigan Could Decriminalize Psychedelics

A bill was introduced in the Michigan Legislature that could remove criminal penalties for the non-commercial use of certain psychedelics.

The bill is sponsored by Democrat Senators Jeff Irwin and Adam Hollier.

Senate Bill 631 intends to amend the State’s Public Health Code, by allowing the manufacture, creation, delivery or possession of entheogenic plants or fungi when not receiving monetary compensation.

According to the bill’s language, these include any mixture, preparation or natural material containing DMT, ibogaine, mescaline, psilocybin, psilocin or marijuana.

The bill has been referred to the Committee On Judiciary And Public Safety for review.

The Milestone Round

• Field Trip Health FTRP has selected treatment-resistant depression and postpartum depression as lead indications for its flagship novel psychedelic compound FT-104. The compound is currently in preclinical stages and the company expects to launch phase 1 clinical trials in the first quarter of 2022.
• Allied Corp. ALID has initiated the manufacturing activities for Psilonex RX, the company’s proprietary psilocybin product in an agreement with HAVN Life Sciences (CSE.HAVN)HAVLF.
• Mynd Life Sciences Inc. MYND MYNDF has closed a non-brokered private placement offering for $3 million.
• Mount Sinai’s Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research has received a $5 million grant from The Bob and Renee Parsons Foundation. The proceeds will be used to build and support training and education for therapists using MDMA-assisted psychotherapy and other psychedelic medicine approaches.
• Mindset Pharma Inc. MSET MSSTF has selected treatment-resistant depression and end of life angst as initial target indications for its lead clinical candidate, MSP-1014, a novel drug candidate that is showing the potential to be a safer second-generation psilocybin analog with decreased potential for side effects.
• Atai Life Sciences ATAI has announced a usability study of a digital therapeutic app by its subsidiary Introspect. The study will be done in support of ketamine therapy for patients with treatment-resistant depression, in a collaboration with Kadima Neuropsychiatry. It will research user acceptability, the introduction of therapeutic content via the app and “set and setting” of the treatment.