Millions of people around the world suffer from mental health and addiction issues. Sadly for far too many, there is no current treatment that helps them. Mydecine Innovations Group is using technology and psychedelic-assisted therapeutics to change this.
As innovation within the medical and health sectors evolves, there is an exciting trend that looks to combine cutting-edge technology with the power of some of the planet’s oldest natural ingredients. Mydecine Innovations Group is at the very heart of this trend and is reimagining the treatment of mental health and addition with safer, more effective solutions.
Established in 2020, Mydecine wasted no time creating an impressive pipeline of novel psychedelic-assisted therapeutics that they believe will make a huge, positive impact for those suffering with addiction and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). With further research and development into novel psychedelic molecules upcoming, the future is looking bright for those people suffering from these terrible conditions.
The company has focused its approach on three main categories of activity:
- Intellectual property and R&D
- Clinical Trials
- Technology
Through collaborations with top universities like Johns Hopkins University and the University of Alberta, Mydecine is looking to demonstrate how we can find compounds with incredible potential in nature, such as psilocybin, and then improve those compounds specifically for medical use.
The Team
Mydecine’s leadership team consists of successful entrepreneurs, honoured scientists and experts in the emerging medical treatment fields. Co-founders Joshua Bartch (CEO), Damon Michaels (COO) and Robert Roscow (CSO) all have successful histories in their respective fields and are firm believers in the incredible potential that psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies can bring to those who are sadly suffering.
When establishing the company, the founders knew that in an emerging area of medicine such as psychedelics, it was going to be crucial to have a strong foundation of credibility and rigorous data to provide the evidence that the industry and marketplace would require. With this in mind, they put together a Scientific Advisory Board of which the leading hospitals and academic institutions in the world would be proud. Hundreds of years of combined experience sit within the Advisory Board from across academic, research and development, military, and corporate environments.
These commitments to quality and collaboration are consistent throughout all aspects of Mydecine’s approach and a reflection of how important they regard their work.
The Scale of the Problem
When you start to explore the complexity and severity of the problems that the company are trying to solve, you start to appreciate just how important their work is to so many.
Mydecine’s focus so far has been on two areas – PTSD and Psychological Trauma in veterans and helping those who are trying to quit smoking. Two very worthwhile areas.
In the USA alone, approximately 7,300 veterans commit suicide every year – that’s one every 72 minutes. Over 30% of veterans will develop PTSD. Those are some shocking statistics and yet currently, there is not a single pharmaceutical drug developed to treat PTSD.
Cigarette smoking is an even bigger killer of Americans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that smoking is responsible for 20% of deaths in the USA every year. From a financial point of view, the negative impact is also concerning with smoking directly associated with $1.4 trillion in health expenditures and productivity losses.
Dr. Rakesh Jetly, Chief Medical Officer at Mydecine explains that many people forget these disturbing facts:
“Despite the recent attention to opiate and dependance on other illicit substances, we sometimes forget about the incredible burden that nicotine dependence has on our societies”
There are millions and millions of smokers who state that they want to quit, however only half have tried and only 7.5% have succeeded. That leaves a huge number of people who want help and a vast potential benefit to helping them.
It is in these two crucial areas where Mydecine has focused as it establishes itself and they aren’t doing so alone.
Collaboration is the key
In just over a year, Mydecine has built an inspiring group of collaborators. The Advisory Board as mentioned brings an incredible amount of expertise and opinion to the table. When it comes to partnerships, Mydecine has created a global network of eight clinical trial sites and five sponsored research programmes around the world. These include partnerships with some of the most acclaimed research and medical institutions on the planet including the likes of John Hopkins University, Imperial College of London and Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation who works in conjunction with the University of Alberta.
Recently, Mydecine announced it has partnered with Principal Investigator Dr. Matthew Johnson of Johns Hopkins University on a study evaluating the administration of their lead drug candidate MYCO-001, a 99% pure psilocybin, with a structured smoking cessation treatment program in nicotine dependent individuals. The study builds on previous data published in a 2014 Johns Hopkins University study in the Journal of Psychopharmacology which showed after six months, patients had an 80% abstinence rate from smoking.
Additionally, Mydecine plans to supply MYCO-001 for a for Multi-Site NIDA Grant-Funded Smoking Cessation Study also lead by Dr. Matthew Johnson. Providing MYCO-001 for this study will allow Mydecine to obtain even more safety and efficacy data. Dr. Johnson received a U01 grant from National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to fund this study, making it the first time in over 50 years that the U.S. government has funded a study of a psychedelic compound for therapeutics. The research is to take place at Johns Hopkins, New York University and University of Alabama Birmingham.
Embracing technology
Part of Mydecine’s unique approach is the use of technology to help improve both clinical processes and patient care. Through their exclusive partnership with API, Mydeince has direct access to the University of Alberta. The University of Alberta’s Faculty of Pharmacology is currently ranked in the top 15 in the world for pharmaceutical drug discovery and ranked top 3 in the world for artificial intelligence.
Their artificial intelligence programme has allowed Mydecine to not only investigate novel drug approaches and combinations but also screen hundreds of thousands of new molecules far faster than any other known approach.
This is crucially important as Mydecine looks to identify the most promising options in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and bring a new level of rigour to drug creation that has rarely been seen before.
It’s not just the drug creation though where Mydecine uses technology. Their wholly owned subsidiary Mindleap can be described as the “Netflix” of Psychedelic & Inner Wellness meets Virtual Health Platform. Midleap is media and community platform that offers a user experience that leads people on a journey to self-discovery unlike any other system in the world. Competitors in the inner wellness software arena only focus on solving surface level problems for sleep, anxiety, etc. Mindleap goes well beyond that by offering an innovative community platform that introduces users to psychedelic Integration, dream analysis, and deepening one’s awareness with top experts as a part of their Inner Wellness journey. In doing so, Mindleap helps to put users a on a path to real healing.
The Future
The pharmaceutical industry is a tough space for any startup but Mydecine has shown in under two years what is possible when you combine talent, passion, experience and innovation.
With so many crucial foundations already in place including a full cGMP certified pharmaceutical manufacturing facility, a state-of-the-art mycology lab in Denver, full government approval through Health Canada and an impressive pipeline of products, Mydecine is perfectly poised for an explosive next few years. The thought that there are millions of people out in the world whose lives will be saved and improved because of their work is the perfect inspiration for the Mydecine team.
For further information on Mydecine and its pioneering health solutions, please visit the company website https://www.mydecine.com
