Issue 185

Awakn to improve substance use and mental health disorder therapies with new collaboration

Awakn Life Sciences has entered into a new collaboration with LSE-listed Graft Polymer (LON: GPL) to advance its New Chemical Entity (NCE) programme, developing novel molecules for innovative addiction and mental health treatments.

Both MDMA and ketamine have been showing promise as innovative mental health treatments for conditions such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD. However, these treatments can take hours to administer and use up high amounts of staff resources.

Awakn’s new collaboration with biopolymer drug delivery systems company Graft Polymer will be harnessing Graft Polymer’s expertise to develop Awakn’s Aminoindane NCE programme.

The programme aims to reduce the time the therapies last, improve accessibility and reduce strains on healthcare resources.

Professor David Nutt, Chief Research Officer at Awakn Life Sciences and Senior Scientific Advisor for Graft Polymer, sat down with Psychedelic Health to tell us more.

LEGISLATION HELPS PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS MAKE A COMEBACK

Drug Researcher and Honors Faculty Fellow of Arizona State University, Benjamin Y. Fong, discusses how psilocybin legislation is helping psychedelic drugs make a comeback for The Conversation.

Fong writes: “Many experts in the industry believe that the FDA will approve certain psychedelic drugs, including synthetic psilocybin, in the coming years. As the Oregon and Colorado programs only work with natural substances, and as any FDA-approved psychedelics would likely only be able to be prescribed by medical professionals, synthetic psilocybin would not be used at service centers under present law.

“The development of the market for potentially FDA-approved psychedelics thus represents a parallel track for the psychedelic renaissance.”

LAW MAKERS URGE BIDEN TO RE-EXAMINE MEDICAL USE OF MDMA

A group of 80 congressional lawmakers have sent a letter to President Biden demanding he take action to allow MDMA-assisted therapy to move forward at the FDA in a bid to help veterans with PTSD, reports The Daily Mail.

“The bipartisan letter comes two months after an FDA panel initially shot down MDMA-AT after a preliminary review at the beginning of June,” writes the publication.

“The agency found that there were inconsistencies in data across MDMA for PTSD studies, leading to further questions about its efficacy.

“They also found that MDMA poses drug risks such as abuse, injury and potential heart problems. Notably, the FDA panel said the studies were not diverse enough.”

SCIENCE AND RESEARCH

UC Davis reports that a new method tracks how psychedelics affect neurons in minutes.

PsyPost reports that a new study has suggests that psilocybin triggers “inner healing” mechanisms in depression patients.

A new paper on psilocybin-assisted therapy and HIV-related shame has been published in Scientific Reports.

In a recent article, researchers discussed how psychedelics can sometimes lead to false insights and beliefs, reports News Medical Life Sciences.

REGULATION AND LEGISLATION

Drug Science, PAREA Science and Mind Medicine AU have published a position statement on the upcoming FDA hearing on MDMA Therapy.

Ahead of the FDA’s hearing on MDMA therapy, Undark explores how the FDA could shape the future of psychedelic research.

BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT

Lykos Therapeutics has announced new initiatives for additional oversight for MDMA therapy, if FDA approved.

Psyched Wellness has announced a new supply chain disruption in the US.

A new scientific publication from Clearmind Medicine has shown MEAI’s potential as a Novel Weight Loss Drug.

Braxia Scientific has announced it has been issued a Cease Trade Order.

ARTICLES OF INTEREST

Cover Magazine reports that a surge in mental health conditions has been identified as one of the drivers for labour market inactivity among young people, according to research by PwC.

Johns Hopkins reports that The U.S. Global Mental Health Alliance recently held a meeting on global mental health entitled ‘Mental Health: The World’s Most Neglected Health Challenge.’