The psychedelic medicines industry saw tremendous growth in 2020 and the growth could continue in 2021 as more cases of mental illness continue globally. The World Health Organisation has estimated that each year there are more than 700 million mental and neurological disorders cases globally.
Psychedelic treatments gather momentum after approval of JNJ depression drug
Interestingly increasing awareness of mental health has resulted in novel R&D for the treatment of mental illnesses. One area that has gained the spotlight is psychedelic medicine for mental illnesses following the approval of Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:JNJ) severe drug depression. As a result, several companies focused on psychedelic treatments such as COMPASS Pathways PLC (NASDAQ:CMPS), Mydecine Innovations Group Inc. (OTCMKTS:MYCOF), Numinus Wellness Inc. (OTCMKTS:LKYSF) and Tonix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TNXP) has joined the race to develop psychedelic-based treatments.
For instance, Mydecine hits several milestones in 2020 with a strong pipeline of psychedelic-derived therapies, therapeutics, novel compounds, and drug delivery systems. In the last couple of years, sentiment towards psychedelic drugs has evolved. In March the FDA approved JNJ’s Ketamine-like drug for severe depression treatment becoming the first psychoactive substance to receive approval.
Various companies pursuing psychedelic treatment programs
Others have followed suit and Mydecine Innovations Group announced a partnership with ProPharma Group to go ahead with FDA filings seeking approval of its drug development platform and different stage clinic trials. Mydecine also recently announced the harvesting of 20 kilograms of psilocybin mushrooms which will be extracted, refined, and converted into cGMP products for controlled therapeutic purposes. Equally, Mydecines has entered an agreement with Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation on R&D on mental health care treatments.
Tonix Pharmaceuticals has also been developing PTSD through TNX601(tianeptine oxalate) and it is evaluating a new statistical approach to evaluate PTSD drug studies. Numinus Wellness also received Health Canada approval to produce and extract psilocybin and it closed a $4.6 million offering in September. On the other hand COMPASS Pathways listed on the Nasdaq and raised $146.6 million which will be used in advancing its COMP360 psilocybin therapy program for treatment-resistant depression.
