Merck Selects Rapidly Growing Psychedelic Medicine Company as Key Research Site

Source: Streetwise Reports   04/16/2021

Novamind runs clinics, research sites and therapeutic retreats and is positioning itself for expansion.

The last few years has seen a major shift in attitudes on psychedelic drugs, as they have moved from fringe to the subject of serious study by respected medical institutions. Johns Hopkins University and Imperial College London have both set up psychedelic research centers, and ketamine infusions are now being used as treatments for depression, eating disorders, anxiety, PTSD and other conditions.

In 2019 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved esketamine nasal spray (Spravato) for treatment-resistant depression.

Novamind Inc. (NM:CSE) was founded in 2019 by CEO Yaron Conforti and two partners. “We saw the data coming out of Johns Hopkins and Imperial College and understood very quickly that there was a model of care there that was innovative and different from the standard of care,” Conforti told Streetwise Reports.

“Our investment thesis was, in short, to find the people that are treating people with these innovative modalities today, in jurisdictions where it’s legal, and partner with them and support them. We set out to build a company focused on the clinic and clinical research site, the places where people were going to have these experiences,” Conforti explained.

The company partnered with psychiatrist Dr. Reid Robison, acquiring his two businesses, the Cedar Psychiatry network of clinics and Cedar Clinical Research, a contract research organization.

There currently are four Cedar Psychiatry clinics, which last year saw 20,000 client visits, a 100% increase over the prior year. “The clinics provide innovative modalities using psychedelic medicine,” Conforti noted, “including ketamine and Spravato.”

For Cedar Clinical Research, the clients are drug developers. Dr. Robison is one of the coordinating investigators for the Phase 3 MDMA trial for PTSD, and Janssen was a client for its Spravato study. In mid-March, Novamind announced that it had been selected as a key research site for a clinical trial focused on treatment-resistant depression by Merck & Co., a major pharmaceutical company.

“We’re proud to partner with Merck and support its innovative neuroscience work to develop a potential new drug for treatment-resistant depression,” said Dr. Robison. “Cedar Clinical Research has unique expertise conducting clinical trials and research studies in neuropsychiatry for a variety of sponsors. This exciting research opportunity with Merck exemplifies a growing pipeline of opportunities for us to provide contract research services to leading drug developers.”

Cedar Clinical Research is participating in the “MAPS-sponsored Phase 2 clinical trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for eating disorders, a ketamine-assisted psychotherapy study (KAP) for end-of-life palliative care with the Ketamine Research Foundation, and a ketamine study to treat suicidal ideation in partnership with the University of Texas, Austin.”

“Over the last 10 years, Dr. Robison has been both a clinician, operating clinics and helping patients, and a clinical researcher, working on the most innovative mental health modalities,” Conforti noted. “When novel mental health therapies succeed in clinical trials, in part through his support and trial services, he has developed the expertise required to provide these alternatives to clients at our clinics. One example is Spravato; Dr. Robison was a principal investigator in Utah for the clinical trial that led to the first approval of the drug.”

In addition, Cedar Clinical Research currently offers psychedelic therapy protocols at its clinics: emotion-focused ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (EF-KAP) for eating disorders and group ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (G-KAP) for depression.

Novamind has made a strategic investment in Australia-listed Bionomics Ltd. and will be evaluated as a research site for its Phase 2b clinical trial of BNC210 for PTSD.

The company has partnered with two therapeutic retreat centers and is also developing a hybrid clinical retreat. “We will combine a medical-grade therapeutic environment in a retreat setting. Everything will be done to the same standard as the company’s clinics—supervised, protocols, etc.—but in a natural setting. Research has shown that optimizing for set and setting can result in improved outcomes for our clients,” Conforti said. “It’s exciting.”

Novamind has 41.4 million shares outstanding and 49 million fully diluted. Insiders own 35%.

Disclosure:
1) Patrice Fusillo conducted this interview for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee. She owns, or members of her immediate household or family own, shares of the following companies mentioned in this article: None. She is, or members of her immediate household or family are, paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None.
2) The following companies mentioned in this interview are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: None. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. As of the date of this article, an affiliate of Streetwise Reports has a consulting relationship with Novamind Inc. Please click here for more information.
The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
3) The interview does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports’ terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports.
4) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the decision to publish an article until three business days after the publication of the article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Novamind Inc., a company mentioned in this article.