Mental illness continues to be a major problem across America, with depression, anxiety, and suicidal behavior spiking during the pandemic. “One in five Americans suffer from a mental health disorder. We have seen double digit growth in mental health issues over the last decade,” said Robert Barrow, CEO of MindMed. “We see even more acute growth in the last two years during the pandemic. Fortunately, we are turning the page in new treatments coming to market, but we haven’t turned the page yet in treating these conditions, and seeing that growth subside.”
Barrow spoke with David Lin, anchor at Kitco News about the medicinal properties of alternative drugs, and how these can treat mental health issues. MindMed is a pharmaceutical company that develops psychedelic-inspired medicines and therapies to help address addiction and mental illness.
Barrow described three drug treatment programs MindMed is currently working on that focus on different areas of brain health disorders.
“One of the leading programs that we are extremely excited about just got cleared by the FDA to move forward in a Phase 2 trial. It is a pharmaceutically optimized form of LSD to treat generalized anxiety disorder,” Barrow explained. “We also have a program for treatment of opioid withdrawal, an opioid use disorder called 18-MC.”
Barrow continued, “And finally we have a pro-social drug called MDMA that will help individuals who suffer from mental health issues like post-traumatic stress disorder. One of its constituent components has demonstrated pro-social effects which were documented in the autism spectrum disorder, but one of the core features is social anxiety and deficits in social functioning,” Barrow said. “To be able to bring these treatments to patients, both for anxiety and depression, and for conditions that are directly linked to social challenges, is very core to our mission.”
In terms of which patients would benefit the most from these drug treatments, Barrow revealed it would benefit those on the autistic spectrum. “We want to be really clear, there are no available therapies for patients with autism that treat the core symptoms. This would be the first in class drug to do that,” he emphasized. “Unlike some of the other drugs that are used to treat autism, this drug has the potential to be a pro-social drug. One that enhances social connections and well-being. It doesn’t just dampen side effects and act as a sedative.”
For investors, Barrow discussed which stages MindMed is at with clinical trials, to obtain FDA approval for its drug therapies. “For both our 18 MC and LSD programs, we are now launching our Phase 2 trials. Those are expected to read out in late 2023, when we should have a very clear indication on the clinical activity in our populations of interest,” he explained. “From there, we will progress into Phase 3 trials, and then onto NDA’s, approvals or partnerships for these programs.”
“We are moving forward as aggressively as we can to get these trials up and running, and fully enrolled.” Barrow added.
For more on how alternative drugs can help treat mental health issues, please watch the full video above.
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