{"id":477693,"date":"2024-01-05T12:16:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-05T17:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/an-unusual-drugmaker-raises-north-of-100m-for-ecstasy-based-ptsd-therapy\/"},"modified":"2024-01-05T14:30:28","modified_gmt":"2024-01-05T19:30:28","slug":"an-unusual-drugmaker-raises-north-of-100m-for-ecstasy-based-ptsd-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/an-unusual-drugmaker-raises-north-of-100m-for-ecstasy-based-ptsd-therapy\/","title":{"rendered":"An unusual drugmaker raises north of $100M for ecstasy-based PTSD therapy","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"
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A California-based company has raised $100 million to support its mission of bringing an ecstasy-based therapy to patients with post-traumatic stress disorder.<\/p>\n

MAPS Public Benefit Corp. formed a decade ago as a subsidiary of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a nonprofit that both researches and promotes the use of psychedelics for mental health. In the years since, the subsidiary has developed a capsule of midomafetamine \u2014 known more commonly as MDMA or ecstasy \u2014 that it recently submitted for Food and Drug Administration approval.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the company said it had raised north of $100 million<\/a> through a Series A financing round that received more investor interest than expected. The sum included the conversion of previously issued convertible notes.<\/p>\n

Leading the round was another nonprofit group, Helena, which describes itself as network of high-profile members working to \u201cimplement solutions to critical societal challenges.\u201d Helena has more than 120 members, including physician Deepak Chopra, researcher Mark Dybul and actress Zoe Saldana, and funds a variety of buzzy projects, like an \u201cunderwater version of the International Space Station\u201d or a technology meant to pull greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

In the wake of the new fundraising, MAPS Public Benefit Corp. has made several changes. The company is renaming itself Lykos Therapeutics, and appointed Suprotik Basu, managing partner of Helena Special Investments, to its board. Lykos\u2019 new eight-member board also includes CEO Amy Emerson as well as six appointees from MAPS.<\/p>\n

The support from Helena \u201ccomes at this critical time as we are transitioning from a development-stage company to one focused on commercialization of the potential first psychedelic-assisted therapy,\u201d Emerson said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Lykos intends for its MDMA capsules be used in combination with psychological intervention, which includes talk therapy and \u201cother supportive services provided by a qualified healthcare provider.\u201d The company last month formally submitted an approval application that included results from two late-stage<\/a> clinical trials<\/a>, both of which hit their main and secondary goals by showing Lykos\u2019 drug reduced PTSD symptoms and functional impairment.<\/p>\n

Results were subsequently published in the journal Nature Medicine.<\/p>\n

Those results, combined with the new funding and approval application, \u201cposition Lykos to continue its journey to help transform mental health, and to help address the large unmet need for the estimated 13 million Americans who suffer from PTSD,\u201d Basu said in the statement.<\/p>\n

The FDA has until mid-February to decide whether it will review Lykos\u2019 application.<\/p>\n

Aside from PTSD, Lykos is also sponsoring a clinical study that will evaluate MDMA in people with certain eating disorders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a Jan. 2 note to clients, Jefferies analyst Andrew Tsai wrote that the \u201cpsychedelic landscape seems to be evolving favorably\u201d for drugmakers. He pointed to last summer, when the FDA issued draft guidance<\/a> on the testing and development of psychedelics, as evidence the agency is taking a more considered view of these therapies.<\/p>\n

Tsai also noted how Johnson & Johnson\u2019s Spravato, a form of ketamine first approved in 2019<\/a> for treatment-resistant depression, is on track to hit $725 million in annual sales.<\/p>\n

Like Helena, investors have started to see a greater upside to financing small biotechnology companies that are dedicated to psychedelics research.<\/p>\n

In 2020, the U.K.-based pharmaceutical company Compass Pathways raised nearly $150 million through an initial public offering, as investors bought into its mission of treating mental health conditions like PTSD and depression with psilocybin \u2014 a psychedelic compound found in many mushroom species. A late-stage study of Compass\u2019 main drug, named COMP360, should produce results this year.<\/p>\n