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atai Life Sciences Launches atai Impact, a Philanthropic Program to Harness the Power of Innovative Mental Health Approaches for Positive Social Change

atai Impact is committed to advancing education, expanding access and supporting the wider ecosystem of mental health care

NEW YORK and BERLIN, Oct. 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — atai Life Sciences (Nasdaq: ATAI) (“atai”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced the launch of its new philanthropic program, atai Impact, in line with atai Life Sciences’ vision, to heal mental health disorders so that everyone, everywhere can live a more fulfilled life.

atai Impact has been developed to harness the power of innovative mental health approaches for positive social change, committed to advancing education, expanding access and supporting the wider ecosystem.

Its establishment is based on atai Life Sciences’ position that, while a for-profit model is the swiftest and most robust means of unlocking new modalities for patients in need, this model alone cannot address all aspects of the escalating global mental crisis.

Therefore, atai Life Sciences believes having harmonization among commercial and non-profit entities is the ideal way forward. The initial focus of atai Impact will be on the psychedelic sector, given its emerging potential in tackling the growing mental health crisis.

Supporting and collaborating with nonprofits and institutions that share its vision of healing mental health disorders, atai Impact will operate across three central pillars:

  1. Education: to help destigmatize mental health, promote better understanding of the potential of psychedelics in mental health care, and foster the next generation of neuro-innovators.
  2. Access: to support equal access to innovative and effective mental health support, for everyone, everywhere, regardless of geography or demographics.
  3. Ecosystem: to contribute to the sustainability of diverse stakeholder communities and environments, including indigenous resources.

“The launch of atai Impact is a very proud moment for everyone at atai Life Sciences and for me, personally. While we believe a for-profit model is the best way to get new treatments to patients in need, not all aspects of the global mental health crisis can be effectively addressed by this model alone,” said Florian Brand, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of atai Life Sciences.

“I’ve been moved by the huge volume of support, internally and externally, that we have had in bringing atai Impact to life and by the commitment of so many of our staff, founders and investors who’ve already joined me in contributing a portion of their own company equity to this important program. We are in active discussions with multiple stakeholders towards meaningful initiatives that we believe can help make a real difference to the future of psychedelic medicine and mental health care worldwide.”

The atai Impact program will be initially funded by 1% of the gross proceeds from atai Life Sciences’ June 2021 Initial Public Offering (NASDAQ) and founders’ contributions. In addition, atai Life Sciences has created a Volunteer Paid Time Off Policy, equal to 1% of employees’ time, and is working with the Equity for Impact initiative to encourage employees and investors to donate a portion of their equity to charitable endeavors.

About atai Life Sciences

atai is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders. atai was founded in 2018 as a response to the significant unmet need and lack of innovation in the mental health treatment landscape. atai is dedicated to acquiring, incubating and efficiently developing innovative therapeutics to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, and other mental health disorders. atai’s business model combines funding, technology, scientific and regulatory expertise with a focus on psychedelic therapy and other drugs with differentiated safety profiles and therapeutic potential. By pooling resources and best practices, atai aims to responsibly accelerate the development of new medicines across its companies, seeking to effectively treat and ultimately heal mental health disorders. atai’s mission is to bridge the gap between what the mental healthcare system currently provides and what patients need. atai has offices in New York, London, and Berlin. For more information, please visit www.atai.life.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any express or implied statements contained in this press release (including without limitation, the atai Impact program and any other future philanthropic endeavors by atai) that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, including, without limitation, the important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in atai’s prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on June 21, 2021, as such factors may be updated from time to time in atai’s other filings with the SEC. atai disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, other than to the extent required by applicable law.

Contact Information

For atai:

Media Contact:
Camilla Dormer
VP, Communications, atai Life Sciences
Email: camilla@atai.life

Investor Contact:
Chad Messer
VP, Investor Relations, atai Life Sciences
Email: chad@atai.life

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Hey ladies, get those butterflies back with MDMA: issue 19

Here’s what’s in store for you in today’s issue:

🍄 Preventing depression legally

🍄 Inhaling shrooms?

🍄 The cure for low sex drive

🍄 Why your employer should let you do drugs

🍄 And more.

You’ll want to stay till the end to learn how someone found enlightenment on a trippy hike.

(Did a good friend forward this to you? If so be sure to subscribe here)

Be sure to check out this week’s Daily Mushroom podcast:
Psychedelic medicines could hold a promise never seen before in mental healthcare

In this episode we have Dave Philips, a registered clinical counselor who has integrated psychedelic therapy into his practice. Dave talks about how he is training the next generation of psychedelic counselors and how he started in this extraordinary field.

Therapeutic banner

How to prevent depression legally

Even non-psychedelic mushrooms could lower your risk of depression!

Researchers from the Penn State College of Medicine collected data from 24,000 Americans and discovered that those who ate mushrooms had a lower chance of being depressed.

Mushrooms are the highest dietary source of ergothioneine, an antioxidant that may prevent mental illnesses by reducing oxidative stress protecting against cell damage. 

While the study didn’t factor in different types of mushrooms, white buttons are believed to ease anxiety and Lion’s Mane can promote neurogenesis which may prevent mental disorders.

Therapy is hard…but drugs help!

Patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) often struggle with concentration, mood and motivation, which can make therapy challenging or unsuccessful. Can psilocybin’s immediate mood-boosting effect enhance engagement in therapy?
 
Monash University is seeking funding from the Australian government for a proposed 2b clinical trial that would reveal the answer.
 
The study would use proprietary biomarker technology developed by MYND Diagnostics Inc., a subsidiary of MYND Life Sciences (MYND), to monitor blood indicators of the subjects’ response, progress, and any relapsing to the psilocybin treatments. If successful, a multi-site phase 3 adaptive trial would follow within a year of completion to get psilocybin-assisted therapy approved by the Therapeutic Goods Association.

Never leave home without your inhaler 😉

Cybin Inc. (CYBN) developed a new device that delivers psychedelic medicine through inhalation.

Inhaling psychedelics could be superior to oral administration, as it could result in optimized session timing, lower doses, and greater control for healthcare providers.

The company filed an international patent application for the method and the device, which has potential to gain coverage in 153 countries.

inspirational banner

Is MDMA the Viagra for women?

A Vancouver company called LOVE Pharma (LUV) wants to promote mental and sexual wellness with its growing product line. 

The company recently launched two products (a CBD oral strip and a clitoral stimulation gel) and has exclusive rights to a total of seven novel therapeutic products. It’s currently developing a biosynthetic psilocybin strip using the IP from the CBD strip.

On Tuesday, the company was listed on  the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol “G1Q0”.

In other sexual wellness news, Mind Cure Health (MCUR) recently launched a research program to treat female hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), a disorder involving low sex drive and emotional distress, with MDMA-assisted therapy.

How shrooms are saving the butterflies!

An eye-opening psychedelic journey inspired this former Navy SEAL save the butterflies while helping veterans cope with trauma.

Mark Matzeldelaflor founded a nonprofit called Guardian Grange after a magic mushroom trip showed him the healing power of nature.

“I just reconnected to nature and my past, where I was like a kid in the woods. And I realized there’s so much healing in being outside in nature, getting your hands in the dirt and doing good work,” he said.

The organization provides a safety net for veterans where they can learn about conservation, sustainability and regenerative agriculture while transitioning back to civilian life. Its first major initiatives is to build a preserve for Western monarch butterflies, which have had a 99.9% population decline in California.

Why your employer should let you do drugs

Psych’s third annual report on psychedelic medicine revealed some interesting findings.

According to a survey of 440 healthcare professionals working in various fields, two thirds said they were excited about psychedelics as medicines. Of those who’ve personally tried the drugs for therapeutic or spiritual purposes, 83% were in favour of psychedelic medicine.

Consumers also showed a positive view of psychedelics, with about two thirds supporting medical legalization and 38% noting that someone they know would benefit from psychedelic therapy. When asked which psychedelic they would want to try in therapy, psilocybin and salvia were the most popular choices.

The report also showed that psychedelic therapy could save employers US$64 billion in Europe and US$270 billion in America due to fewer sick days and increased productivity.

business banner

New advisor supports expansion into psychedelic treatments

Blackhawk Growth Corp. (CSE:BLR) (CNSX:BLR.CN) (Frankfurt:0JJ) is accelerating its expansion into psychedelic and mental health treatments with a new addition to its team.

Yesterday, Blackhawk appointed Dr. Lahiru Russell, the founder and chief scientist of Digital Health Technologies, as the company’s medical advisor. Using her 10+ years of experience in clinical trials and psycho-oncology research, Dr. Russel is developing a mindfulness-based intervention platform that will help patients regulate their emotions and thoughts to reduce negative mental health conditions.

Blackhawk’s subsidiary, MindBio Therapeutics, will be able to utilize Dr. Russel’s IP in its microdosing research through a commercialization agreement with Digital Mind Technology, which was established last month.

MindBio will also utilize Google Cloud’s “Health Care Solutions” to recruit, enroll, and engage with patients in its internal clinical trials and to accelerate drug development.

A new subsidiary to tackle depression

atai Life Sciences (ATAI) and Chymia LLC launched a new company to offer individualized care for patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD).

The company, PsyProtix, takes a precision psychiatry approach – an emerging method that treats illnesses based on each patient’s genetic, metabolic, environmental, and lifestyle variability.

The platform should allow patients to be diagnosed and treated faster and more effectively than when following protocols designed for the majority.

Measuring brain penetration?

Mindset Pharma (MSET) is rapidly expanding its pipeline thanks to advancements made by its Co-operative Psychedelics Evaluation (COPE) program, which aims to develop preclinical benchmark data for psychedelic medicines.

Researchers established standard pharmacokinetic, brain penetration, and drug discrimination data and protocols for psilocybin, LSD, and 5-MeO-DMT. The company also developed procedures to determine concentrations of the drugs in plasma, brain, and cerebral spinal fluid.

These finding, which were gathered in collaboration with InterVivo Solutions, will help drug developers understand how compounds interact with the body. Mindset will commercialize the data by making it available to other InterVivo clients.

legal banner

Another win for California

With a unanimous vote, Arata became the third city in California to decriminalize psychedelics!

The possession, cultivation and distributions of entheogens including psilocybin and ayahuasca will become the city’s lowest law enforcement priority, but commercial sale will remain illegal.

The measure represents “a pivotal point in history by reclaiming our sovereign right to explore our consciousness, and to choose the path of healing that we see best fit for ourselves,” according to an organizer of the activist group Decriminalize Nature Humboldt.

We told you decriminalization isn’t risky!

It’s been over two years since Denver decriminalized mushrooms, and a recent report shows that people are using psilocybin responsibly.

The Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Policy Review Panel, which is comprised of local officials, law enforcement, and scientific experts, unanimously agreed that there have been no significant public health or safety risks as a result of the reform.

The panel proposed that the city’s next steps should be to train first responders to respond to psychedelic crises, create public service announcements on psychedelic safety, and deprioritize the sharing, gifting, and communal use of psilocybin, among other recommendations.

Support for first responders

The push for psilocybin research is gaining traction in Pennsylvania.

Twenty one lawmakers from both parties sponsored a bill called the Public Heath Benefits of Psilocybin Act, which would set up a research framework to optimize psilocybin’s public health benefits. Studies focused on veterans, retired first responders, and their families would be prioritized.

“A growing body of research provides a reason for hope that psilocybin, administered in a controlled setting, will be the most effective tool at our disposal to combat the suicide, opioid and overall mental health crisis burdening the Commonwealth,” the group wrote to colleagues.

Industry Quick Hits

Oct 8 – Numinus (NUMI) Upgrades Psychedelics Lab to Increase Research Service Capabilities Read more…

Oct 11 – Cannabis Global (CBGL) Selects Oakland, CA for New Mushroom-based Psychedelics Infusion Research Initiative Read more…

Oct 13 – Novamind (NM) Granted DEA Licenses for Psilocybin Research Read more…

Oct 13 – MindMed (MNMD) Joins Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative Read more…

Oct 13 – Psyence Group (PSYG) Announces Commencement Of Trading On OTCQB And DTC Eligibility Of Common Shares In The United States Under The Ticker “PSYGF” Read more…

Oct 14 – Delic Corp’s (DELC) Ketamine Wellness Centers Partners with Veterans Affairs Community Care Network to Provide Free Ketamine Treatments to Veterans Read more… 

Video of the Week

Thomas Hartle Advocates for Medical Psilocybin Regulations - TheraPsil

🌲+🌧️+🍄=✨

This Reddit user found enlightenment after taking a mega dose of Golden Teachers in the forest.

“I like to combine mushrooms and hiking. The forecast called for rain on this day. Generally not the best hiking weather, unless there’s shrooms involved.

Once they kicked in I went into this deep meditation. I started to think about current events in my life, but as if I was looking at them from a completely different set of eyes. I was so deep in meditation that I didn’t realize it had started raining. I slowly came to the realization that I was soaking wet. Normally that might have made me feel uncomfortable. I stood up and felt ready for anything this world could throw at me.

I looked around and the visualizations were quite extreme. All of the landscape around me was shifting and moving. It looked like the whole earth was breathing. The patterns in the bark of the trees were moving. I found this big rock under a tree and laid flat on my back. At this point it was raining pretty hard. I could feel every raindrop hitting my face. I could see the droplets falling through the sky as if it was slow motion. The raindrops dripping from the surrounding leaves and branches seemed to be frozen in time. My concept of time itself was totally lost. I felt like I had been laying under that tree for days.

It started to get dark and was still raining. I could hear thunder in the distance. The forest looked so enchanting and I felt like I was in the most magical place. I left the forest and watched the lightning in the distance until the trip wore off. I wasn’t even slightly bothered by the fact that I was totally drenched from head to toe.“

Playlist of the Week

Psychedelic rock
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A new subsidiary to tackle depression

atai Life Sciences announces the launch of PsyProtix, to develop a precision psychiatry approach for Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD)

atai Life Sciences (ATAI) and Chymia LLC launched a new company to offer individualized care for patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD).

The company, PsyProtix, takes a precision psychiatry approach – an emerging method that treats illnesses based on each patient’s genetic, metabolic, environmental, and lifestyle variability.

The platform should allow patients to be diagnosed and treated faster and more effectively than when following protocols designed for the majority.

PDF of article

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atai Life Sciences announces the launch of PsyProtix, to develop a precision psychiatry approach for Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD)

atai Life Sciences announces the launch of PsyProtix, to develop a precision psychiatry approach for Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD)

NEW YORK, Oct. 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — atai Life Sciences (Nasdaq: ATAI) (“atai”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders, announced the launch of PsyProtix, a new platform company formed with Chymia LLC, a Duke University biotechnology spinout. PsyProtix is a precision psychiatry company focused on developing therapeutics for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and other mental health indications.

PsyProtix takes a precision psychiatry approach, an emerging field that aims to treat disorders by factoring each patient’s variability in genes, metabolism, environment, and lifestyle. Traditionally, psychiatric patients are diagnosed and treated based on guidelines and protocols designed for the majority, which can often lead to trial and error as physicians attempt to best meet each individual patient’s needs.

Precision psychiatry is designed to allow physicians to prescribe treatments specifically targeted to the individual, rather than relying on the trial and error approach and/or adding on treatments, such as antidepressants or antipsychotics, in the quest to achieve a therapeutic benefit.

Over 300 million people suffer with a major depressive disorder (MDD) worldwide, with a third of these patients diagnosed with TRD. Direct medical costs for TRD patients are estimated to be two to three times higher than non-TRD MDD patients. These statistics highlight the importance and potential of a mechanistically targeted therapeutic approach. PsyProtix will focus on metabolomic mechanisms underlying depression symptoms for certain patients with the goal of deriving more tailored treatments.

“Our view is that each patient is unique, meaning that any given patient will likely have specific individual needs,” said Srinivas Rao, Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of atai Life Sciences. “This emerging technology adapts to the variability of conditions, such as depression, with the aim of allowing patients with psychiatric disorders to potentially be diagnosed and treated more accurately and efficiently according to their specific needs. It’s an honor to be collaborating with Professor Rima Kaddurah-Daouk and her team at Duke, given their great work in advancing the research of metabolomics and their study of neuropsychiatric disorders.”

Dr. Kaddurah-Daouk, is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in Duke’s School of Medicine. She leads large NIH funded consortia to implement a precision medicine approach for the study of neuropsychiatric diseases where the metabolome is used to capture net influences of diet exposome gut microbiome and genome on brain health and disease.

The work licensed by Duke to start PsyProtix captures efforts of a large number of scientists working collaboratively under the Mood Disorder Precision Medicine Consortium which is led by a Duke principal investigator (PI). Their approach has the promise to potentially optimize the selection of drugs most effective for each patient, easing the healing journey in important and impactful ways.

About atai Life Sciences
atai is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders. atai was founded in 2018 as a response to the significant unmet need and lack of innovation in the mental health treatment landscape. atai is dedicated to acquiring, incubating and efficiently developing innovative therapeutics to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, and other mental health disorders. atai’s business model combines funding, technology, scientific and regulatory expertise with a focus on psychedelic therapy and other drugs with differentiated safety profiles and therapeutic potential. By pooling resources and best practices, atai aims to responsibly accelerate the development of new medicines across its companies, seeking to effectively treat and ultimately heal mental health disorders. atai’s mission is to bridge the gap between what the mental healthcare system currently provides and what patients need. atai has offices in New York, London, and Berlin. For more information, please visit www.atai.life.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any express or implied statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, including, without limitation, the important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in atai’s prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on June 21, 2021, as such factors may be updated from time to time in atai’s other filings with the SEC. atai disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, other than to the extent required by applicable law.

Investor Contact:
Greg Weaver
atai – Chief Financial Officer
Email: greg.weaver@atai.life

Media Contact:
Camilla Dormer
atai – VP of Communications
Email: press@atai.life

Posted on

atai Life Sciences announces the launch of PsyProtix, to develop a precision psychiatry approach for Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD)

NEW YORK, Oct. 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — atai Life Sciences (Nasdaq: ATAI) (“atai”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders, announced the launch of PsyProtix, a new platform company formed with Chymia LLC, a Duke University biotechnology spinout. PsyProtix is a precision psychiatry company focused on developing therapeutics for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and other mental health indications.

PsyProtix takes a precision psychiatry approach, an emerging field that aims to treat disorders by factoring each patient’s variability in genes, metabolism, environment, and lifestyle. Traditionally, psychiatric patients are diagnosed and treated based on guidelines and protocols designed for the majority, which can often lead to trial and error as physicians attempt to best meet each individual patient’s needs.

Precision psychiatry is designed to allow physicians to prescribe treatments specifically targeted to the individual, rather than relying on the trial and error approach and/or adding on treatments, such as antidepressants or antipsychotics, in the quest to achieve a therapeutic benefit.

Over 300 million people suffer with a major depressive disorder (MDD) worldwide, with a third of these patients diagnosed with TRD. Direct medical costs for TRD patients are estimated to be two to three times higher than non-TRD MDD patients. These statistics highlight the importance and potential of a mechanistically targeted therapeutic approach. PsyProtix will focus on metabolomic mechanisms underlying depression symptoms for certain patients with the goal of deriving more tailored treatments.

“Our view is that each patient is unique, meaning that any given patient will likely have specific individual needs,” said Srinivas Rao, Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of atai Life Sciences. “This emerging technology adapts to the variability of conditions, such as depression, with the aim of allowing patients with psychiatric disorders to potentially be diagnosed and treated more accurately and efficiently according to their specific needs. It’s an honor to be collaborating with Professor Rima Kaddurah-Daouk and her team at Duke, given their great work in advancing the research of metabolomics and their study of neuropsychiatric disorders.”

Dr. Kaddurah-Daouk, is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in Duke’s School of Medicine. She leads large NIH funded consortia to implement a precision medicine approach for the study of neuropsychiatric diseases where the metabolome is used to capture net influences of diet exposome gut microbiome and genome on brain health and disease.

The work licensed by Duke to start PsyProtix captures efforts of a large number of scientists working collaboratively under the Mood Disorder Precision Medicine Consortium which is led by a Duke principal investigator (PI). Their approach has the promise to potentially optimize the selection of drugs most effective for each patient, easing the healing journey in important and impactful ways.

About atai Life Sciences
atai is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders. atai was founded in 2018 as a response to the significant unmet need and lack of innovation in the mental health treatment landscape. atai is dedicated to acquiring, incubating and efficiently developing innovative therapeutics to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, and other mental health disorders. atai’s business model combines funding, technology, scientific and regulatory expertise with a focus on psychedelic therapy and other drugs with differentiated safety profiles and therapeutic potential. By pooling resources and best practices, atai aims to responsibly accelerate the development of new medicines across its companies, seeking to effectively treat and ultimately heal mental health disorders. atai’s mission is to bridge the gap between what the mental healthcare system currently provides and what patients need. atai has offices in New York, London, and Berlin. For more information, please visit www.atai.life.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any express or implied statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, including, without limitation, the important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in atai’s prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on June 21, 2021, as such factors may be updated from time to time in atai’s other filings with the SEC. atai disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, other than to the extent required by applicable law.

Investor Contact:
Greg Weaver
atai – Chief Financial Officer
Email: greg.weaver@atai.life

Media Contact:
Camilla Dormer
atai – VP of Communications
Email: press@atai.life

Posted on

DemeRx Doses First Subject in Phase 1/2a Study of DMX-1002 (Ibogaine) in Opioid Use Disorder

DemeRx Doses First Subject in Phase 1/2a Study of DMX-1002 (Ibogaine) in Opioid Use Disorder

NEW YORK, Sept. 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — DemeRx IB, Inc. (“DemeRx”), an atai Life Sciences (Nasdaq: ATAI) (“atai”) platform company focused on developing ibogaine for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD), today announced that the first subjects have been dosed in a Phase 1/2a clinical trial of ibogaine HCl (DMX-1002). The trial has commenced enrollment and dosing of recreational drug users and healthy volunteers in the Phase 1 segment of the study at the Manchester clinical unit of MAC Clinical Research (MAC) in the UK, one of Europe’s largest clinical development organizations.

DMX-1002 is an oral formulation of ibogaine, a naturally occurring psychedelic product isolated from a West African shrub. In previously published non-controlled studies, ibogaine has demonstrated rapid and sustained efficacy in treating OUD and has the potential to be a disease modifying treatment for this vulnerable patient population seeking to end their intractable cycle of drug dependence.

The Phase 1/2a trial is designed to assess safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy, and the results will inform future studies in patients with opioid use disorder. We expect to obtain safety data from the phase 1 segment of this trial in early 2022.

“By launching the Phase1/2a trial, we look forward to bringing important data from carefully designed, controlled studies to the existing literature on ibogaine, a compound with substantial history,” said Dr. Deborah Mash, CEO and President of DemeRx. “We are hopeful that this early trial can begin to establish a safe and efficacious profile for Ibogaine, so that we can potentially offer a new option for patients seeking to break free from OUD who have far too few options.”

“The opioid crisis has ravaged the U.S. for over 20 years with little sign of letting up. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the tragic vulnerability of people addicted to drugs as the CDC tallied 93,000 drug overdose deaths in 2020, a 30% increase, 70,000 of which involved opioids,” added Srinivas Rao, Chief Scientific Officer and Co-founder of atai Life Sciences. “Launching our Phase 1/2a trial of ibogaine with assent of regulators, we believe is a major step towards reversing the trend of the opioid crisis.”

“We strive for bold innovation to address the global crisis of mental health,” said Florian Brand, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of atai Life Sciences. “By launching this Phase 1/2a trial, we are grateful for the work of our dedicated teams at DemeRx and atai who are committed to this ethos, striving to bring transformative treatments through rigorous testing.”

About DemeRx, Inc. & DMX-1002

DemeRx, Inc. is a Miami-based clinical stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing ibogaine and noribogaine for the treatment of OUD. DemeRx’s mission is to advance the development of potential treatments for OUD in order to prevent patient suffering, provide better treatment retention, and decrease illegal opioid use.

DemeRx is developing DMX-1002 for the treatment of OUD. DMX-1002 is a GMP drug product manufactured for human use.

About atai Life Sciences

atai is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders. atai was founded in 2018 as a response to the significant unmet need and lack of innovation in the mental health treatment landscape. atai is dedicated to acquiring, incubating and efficiently developing innovative therapeutics to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, and other mental health disorders. atai’s business model combines funding, technology, scientific and regulatory expertise with a focus on psychedelic therapy and other drugs with differentiated safety profiles and therapeutic potential. By pooling resources and best practices, atai aims to responsibly accelerate the development of new medicines across its companies, seeking to effectively treat and ultimately heal mental health disorders. atai’s mission is to bridge the gap between what the mental healthcare system currently provides and what patients need. atai has offices in New York, London, and Berlin. For more information, please visit www.atai.life.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any express or implied statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements regarding the initiation of the Phase 1/2a clinical trial of ibogaine HCl and future activities thereunder, the potential of DMX-1002, and similar statements of a future or forward-looking nature. Forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, including, without limitation, the important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in atai’s prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on June 21, 2021, as such factors may be updated from time to time in atai’s other filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof and accordingly undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. atai disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than to the extent required by applicable law.

Contact Information

For atai:

Investor Contact:
Greg Weaver
atai – Chief Financial Officer
Email: greg.weaver@atai.life

Media Contact:
Anne Donohoe
KCSA Strategic Communications
Phone: +1 (212) 896-1265
Email: atai@KCSA.com

For DemeRx:

Company Contacts:

Deborah C Mash PhD
CEO & Founder, DemeRx Inc.
Phone: +1(305)753-2175
Email: dmash@demerx.com

Matthias Luz MD
Executive Vice President & Chief Medical Officer
Email: mluz@demerx.com

Posted on

DemeRx Doses First Subject in Phase 1/2a Study of DMX-1002 (Ibogaine) in Opioid Use Disorder

NEW YORK, Sept. 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — DemeRx IB, Inc. (“DemeRx”), an atai Life Sciences (Nasdaq: ATAI) (“atai”) platform company focused on developing ibogaine for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD), today announced that the first subjects have been dosed in a Phase 1/2a clinical trial of ibogaine HCl (DMX-1002). The trial has commenced enrollment and dosing of recreational drug users and healthy volunteers in the Phase 1 segment of the study at the Manchester clinical unit of MAC Clinical Research (MAC) in the UK, one of Europe’s largest clinical development organizations.

DMX-1002 is an oral formulation of ibogaine, a naturally occurring psychedelic product isolated from a West African shrub. In previously published non-controlled studies, ibogaine has demonstrated rapid and sustained efficacy in treating OUD and has the potential to be a disease modifying treatment for this vulnerable patient population seeking to end their intractable cycle of drug dependence.

The Phase 1/2a trial is designed to assess safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy, and the results will inform future studies in patients with opioid use disorder. We expect to obtain safety data from the phase 1 segment of this trial in early 2022.

“By launching the Phase1/2a trial, we look forward to bringing important data from carefully designed, controlled studies to the existing literature on ibogaine, a compound with substantial history,” said Dr. Deborah Mash, CEO and President of DemeRx. “We are hopeful that this early trial can begin to establish a safe and efficacious profile for Ibogaine, so that we can potentially offer a new option for patients seeking to break free from OUD who have far too few options.”

“The opioid crisis has ravaged the U.S. for over 20 years with little sign of letting up. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the tragic vulnerability of people addicted to drugs as the CDC tallied 93,000 drug overdose deaths in 2020, a 30% increase, 70,000 of which involved opioids,” added Srinivas Rao, Chief Scientific Officer and Co-founder of atai Life Sciences. “Launching our Phase 1/2a trial of ibogaine with assent of regulators, we believe is a major step towards reversing the trend of the opioid crisis.”

“We strive for bold innovation to address the global crisis of mental health,” said Florian Brand, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of atai Life Sciences. “By launching this Phase 1/2a trial, we are grateful for the work of our dedicated teams at DemeRx and atai who are committed to this ethos, striving to bring transformative treatments through rigorous testing.”

About DemeRx, Inc. & DMX-1002

DemeRx, Inc. is a Miami-based clinical stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing ibogaine and noribogaine for the treatment of OUD. DemeRx’s mission is to advance the development of potential treatments for OUD in order to prevent patient suffering, provide better treatment retention, and decrease illegal opioid use.

DemeRx is developing DMX-1002 for the treatment of OUD. DMX-1002 is a GMP drug product manufactured for human use.

About atai Life Sciences

atai is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders. atai was founded in 2018 as a response to the significant unmet need and lack of innovation in the mental health treatment landscape. atai is dedicated to acquiring, incubating and efficiently developing innovative therapeutics to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, and other mental health disorders. atai’s business model combines funding, technology, scientific and regulatory expertise with a focus on psychedelic therapy and other drugs with differentiated safety profiles and therapeutic potential. By pooling resources and best practices, atai aims to responsibly accelerate the development of new medicines across its companies, seeking to effectively treat and ultimately heal mental health disorders. atai’s mission is to bridge the gap between what the mental healthcare system currently provides and what patients need. atai has offices in New York, London, and Berlin. For more information, please visit www.atai.life.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any express or implied statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements regarding the initiation of the Phase 1/2a clinical trial of ibogaine HCl and future activities thereunder, the potential of DMX-1002, and similar statements of a future or forward-looking nature. Forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, including, without limitation, the important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in atai’s prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on June 21, 2021, as such factors may be updated from time to time in atai’s other filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof and accordingly undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. atai disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than to the extent required by applicable law.

Contact Information

For atai:

Investor Contact:
Greg Weaver
atai – Chief Financial Officer
Email: greg.weaver@atai.life 

Media Contact:
Anne Donohoe
KCSA Strategic Communications
Phone: +1 (212) 896-1265
Email: atai@KCSA.com 

For DemeRx:

Company Contacts:

Deborah C Mash PhD
CEO & Founder, DemeRx Inc.
Phone: +1(305)753-2175
Email: dmash@demerx.com 

Matthias Luz MD
Executive Vice President & Chief Medical Officer
Email: mluz@demerx.com 

Posted on

atai Life Sciences Increases Loan in Principal by US$6m to Support IntelGenx’s Graduation to Toronto Stock Exchange After Positive Early Feasibility Study Data

atai Life Sciences Increases Loan in Principal by US$6m to Support IntelGenx’s Graduation to Toronto Stock Exchange After Positive Early Feasibility Study Data

NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — atai Life Sciences (Nasdaq: ATAI) (“atai”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders, today announced it has entered into an amended and restated loan agreement (“Loan Agreement”) with strategic partner IntelGenx Technologies Corp. (“IntelGenx”) to support IntelGenx’s conditionally approved graduation from the TSX Venture Exchange to the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”). Completion of the uplisting and the commencement of trading of IntelGenx’s common shares, 8% convertible debentures with a maturity date of June 30, 2022, and share purchase warrants expiring on February 11, 2023 is subject to the satisfaction by IntelGenx of all of the final conditions of listing.

atai has agreed to increase the principal amount of its outstanding US$2,500,000 loan to IntelGenx by an additional US$6,000,000, with US$3,000,000 to become available to IntelGenx in each of January 2022 and January 2023, subject to customary conditions. The loan is in addition to atai’s previously announced initial equity investment of an approximately 25% interest in IntelGenx. The loan bears interest at a rate of 8% per annum, payable at maturity, and matures in January 2024. The borrower under the secured loan is IntelGenx’s wholly-owned subsidiary, IntelGenx Corp., and the loan is guaranteed by IntelGenx.

As part of the strategic partnership, IntelGenx partnered exclusively with atai to develop formulations of compounds for the prevention or treatment of mental health diseases or disorders, including compounds that have psychedelic, entactogenic and/or oneirophrenic properties (such as DMT and psilocybin, among others). atai agreed to increase the loan principal in part on the basis of early data generated from its ongoing feasibility studies conducted with IntelGenx.

“We are proud to deepen our relationship with atai, while strengthening our positions of leadership and boldly innovating novel psychedelic therapies,” said Dr. Horst G. Zerbe, CEO of IntelGenx. “I’m excited about our companies’ mutual efforts to advance our robust pipelines, while finding synergistic ways to work together to develop better compounds and modes of delivery to benefit patients.”

“This transaction illustrates our confidence in IntelGenx’s film technology and the potential it has in the development of product candidates to treat mental health disorders,” said Florian Brand, CEO of atai. “We look forward to collaborating to transition this innovative film delivery technology into the clinic.”

About atai
atai is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders. atai was founded in 2018 as a response to the significant unmet need and lack of innovation in the mental health treatment landscape. atai is dedicated to acquiring, incubating and efficiently developing innovative therapeutics to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, and other mental health disorders. atai’s business model combines funding, technology, scientific and regulatory expertise with a focus on psychedelic therapy and other drugs with differentiated safety profiles and therapeutic potential. By pooling resources and best practices, atai aims to responsibly accelerate the development of new medicines across its companies, seeking to effectively treat and ultimately heal mental health disorders. atai’s mission is to bridge the gap between what the mental healthcare system currently provides and what patients need. atai has offices in New York, London, and Berlin. For more information, please visit www.atai.life.

About IntelGenx
IntelGenx is a leading drug delivery company focused on the development and manufacturing of pharmaceutical films.

IntelGenx’s superior film technologies, including VersaFilm®, DisinteQ™, VetaFilm™ and transdermal VevaDerm™, allow for next generation pharmaceutical products that address unmet medical needs. IntelGenx’s innovative product pipeline offers significant benefits to patients and physicians for many therapeutic conditions.

IntelGenx’s highly skilled team provides comprehensive pharmaceuticals services to pharmaceutical partners, including R&D, analytical method development, clinical monitoring, IP and regulatory services. IntelGenx’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility offers full service by providing lab-scale to pilot- and commercial-scale production. For more information, visit www.intelgenx.com.

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “initiate,” “could,” “would,” “project,” “plan,” “potentially,” “preliminary,” “likely,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements include express or implied statements relating to, among other things,
the uplisting of IntelGenx to the TSX and continued strategic cooperation between atai and IntelGenx. The forward-looking statements in this press release are neither promises nor guarantees, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond our control and which could cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives, and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, including without limitation: we are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company and have incurred significant losses since our inception, and we anticipate that we will continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future; we will require substantial additional funding to achieve our business goals, and if we are unable to obtain this funding when needed and on acceptable terms, we could be forced to delay, limit or terminate our product development efforts; our limited operating history may make it difficult to evaluate the success of our business and to assess our future viability; we have never generated revenue and may never be profitable; our product candidates contain controlled substances, the use of which may generate public controversy; clinical and preclinical development is uncertain, and our preclinical programs may experience delays or may never advance to clinical trials; we currently rely on qualified therapists working at third-party clinical trial sites to administer certain of our product candidates in our clinical trials and we expect this to continue upon approval, if any, of our current or future product candidates; if third-party sites fail to recruit and retain a sufficient number of therapists or effectively manage their therapists, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be materially harmed; we cannot give any assurance that any of our product candidates will receive regulatory approval, which is necessary before they can be commercialized; research and development of drugs targeting the central nervous system, or CNS, is particularly difficult, and it can be difficult to predict and understand why a drug has a positive effect on some patients but not others; we face significant competition in an environment of rapid technological and scientific change; third parties may claim that we are infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating their intellectual property rights, the outcome of which would be uncertain and may prevent or delay our development and commercialization efforts; a change in our effective place of management may increase our aggregate tax burden; we identified material weaknesses in connection with our internal control over financial reporting; and a pandemic, epidemic, or outbreak of an infectious disease, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may materially and adversely affect our business, including our preclinical studies, clinical trials, third parties on whom we rely, our supply chain, our ability to raise capital, our ability to conduct regular business and our financial results. Other risk factors include the important factors described in the section titled “Risk Factors” in our final prospectus, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on June 21, 2021 pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act, and in our other filings with the SEC, that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially and adversely from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

Any forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this press release, and you should not rely on forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that the future results, performance, or achievements reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or will occur. Except as required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this press release or to conform these statements to actual results or revised expectations.

Contact Information

For atai Life Sciences:

Investor Contact:
Greg Weaver
ATAI – Chief Financial Officer
Email: greg.weaver@atai.life

Media Contact:
Anne Donohoe
KCSA Strategic Communications
Phone: +1 (212) 896-1265
Email: atai@KCSA.com

For IntelGenx:
Stephen Kilmer
Investor Relations
(514) 331-7440 ext 232
stephen@intelgenx.com

Or

Andre Godin, CPA, CA
President and CFO
IntelGenx Technologies Corp.
(514) 331-7440 ext 203
andre@intelgenx.com

Posted on

atai Life Sciences Increases Loan in Principal by US$6m to Support IntelGenx’s Graduation to Toronto Stock Exchange After Positive Early Feasibility Study Data

NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — atai Life Sciences (Nasdaq: ATAI) (“atai”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders, today announced it has entered into an amended and restated loan agreement (“Loan Agreement”) with strategic partner IntelGenx Technologies Corp. (“IntelGenx”) to support IntelGenx’s conditionally approved graduation from the TSX Venture Exchange to the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”). Completion of the uplisting and the commencement of trading of IntelGenx’s common shares, 8% convertible debentures with a maturity date of June 30, 2022, and share purchase warrants expiring on February 11, 2023 is subject to the satisfaction by IntelGenx of all of the final conditions of listing.

atai has agreed to increase the principal amount of its outstanding US$2,500,000 loan to IntelGenx by an additional US$6,000,000, with US$3,000,000 to become available to IntelGenx in each of January 2022 and January 2023, subject to customary conditions. The loan is in addition to atai’s previously announced initial equity investment of an approximately 25% interest in IntelGenx. The loan bears interest at a rate of 8% per annum, payable at maturity, and matures in January 2024. The borrower under the secured loan is IntelGenx’s wholly-owned subsidiary, IntelGenx Corp., and the loan is guaranteed by IntelGenx.

As part of the strategic partnership, IntelGenx partnered exclusively with atai to develop formulations of compounds for the prevention or treatment of mental health diseases or disorders, including compounds that have psychedelic, entactogenic and/or oneirophrenic properties (such as DMT and psilocybin, among others). atai agreed to increase the loan principal in part on the basis of early data generated from its ongoing feasibility studies conducted with IntelGenx.

“We are proud to deepen our relationship with atai, while strengthening our positions of leadership and boldly innovating novel psychedelic therapies,” said Dr. Horst G. Zerbe, CEO of IntelGenx. “I’m excited about our companies’ mutual efforts to advance our robust pipelines, while finding synergistic ways to work together to develop better compounds and modes of delivery to benefit patients.”

“This transaction illustrates our confidence in IntelGenx’s film technology and the potential it has in the development of product candidates to treat mental health disorders,” said Florian Brand, CEO of atai. “We look forward to collaborating to transition this innovative film delivery technology into the clinic.”

About atai
atai is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders. atai was founded in 2018 as a response to the significant unmet need and lack of innovation in the mental health treatment landscape. atai is dedicated to acquiring, incubating and efficiently developing innovative therapeutics to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, and other mental health disorders. atai’s business model combines funding, technology, scientific and regulatory expertise with a focus on psychedelic therapy and other drugs with differentiated safety profiles and therapeutic potential. By pooling resources and best practices, atai aims to responsibly accelerate the development of new medicines across its companies, seeking to effectively treat and ultimately heal mental health disorders. atai’s mission is to bridge the gap between what the mental healthcare system currently provides and what patients need. atai has offices in New York, London, and Berlin. For more information, please visit www.atai.life.

About IntelGenx
IntelGenx is a leading drug delivery company focused on the development and manufacturing of pharmaceutical films.

IntelGenx’s superior film technologies, including VersaFilm®, DisinteQ™, VetaFilm™ and transdermal VevaDerm™, allow for next generation pharmaceutical products that address unmet medical needs. IntelGenx’s innovative product pipeline offers significant benefits to patients and physicians for many therapeutic conditions.

IntelGenx’s highly skilled team provides comprehensive pharmaceuticals services to pharmaceutical partners, including R&D, analytical method development, clinical monitoring, IP and regulatory services. IntelGenx’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility offers full service by providing lab-scale to pilot- and commercial-scale production. For more information, visit www.intelgenx.com.

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “initiate,” “could,” “would,” “project,” “plan,” “potentially,” “preliminary,” “likely,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements include express or implied statements relating to, among other things,
the uplisting of IntelGenx to the TSX and continued strategic cooperation between atai and IntelGenx. The forward-looking statements in this press release are neither promises nor guarantees, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond our control and which could cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives, and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, including without limitation: we are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company and have incurred significant losses since our inception, and we anticipate that we will continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future; we will require substantial additional funding to achieve our business goals, and if we are unable to obtain this funding when needed and on acceptable terms, we could be forced to delay, limit or terminate our product development efforts; our limited operating history may make it difficult to evaluate the success of our business and to assess our future viability; we have never generated revenue and may never be profitable; our product candidates contain controlled substances, the use of which may generate public controversy; clinical and preclinical development is uncertain, and our preclinical programs may experience delays or may never advance to clinical trials; we currently rely on qualified therapists working at third-party clinical trial sites to administer certain of our product candidates in our clinical trials and we expect this to continue upon approval, if any, of our current or future product candidates; if third-party sites fail to recruit and retain a sufficient number of therapists or effectively manage their therapists, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be materially harmed; we cannot give any assurance that any of our product candidates will receive regulatory approval, which is necessary before they can be commercialized; research and development of drugs targeting the central nervous system, or CNS, is particularly difficult, and it can be difficult to predict and understand why a drug has a positive effect on some patients but not others; we face significant competition in an environment of rapid technological and scientific change; third parties may claim that we are infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating their intellectual property rights, the outcome of which would be uncertain and may prevent or delay our development and commercialization efforts; a change in our effective place of management may increase our aggregate tax burden; we identified material weaknesses in connection with our internal control over financial reporting; and a pandemic, epidemic, or outbreak of an infectious disease, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may materially and adversely affect our business, including our preclinical studies, clinical trials, third parties on whom we rely, our supply chain, our ability to raise capital, our ability to conduct regular business and our financial results. Other risk factors include the important factors described in the section titled “Risk Factors” in our final prospectus, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on June 21, 2021 pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act, and in our other filings with the SEC, that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially and adversely from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

Any forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this press release, and you should not rely on forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that the future results, performance, or achievements reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or will occur. Except as required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this press release or to conform these statements to actual results or revised expectations.

Contact Information

For atai Life Sciences:

Investor Contact:
Greg Weaver
ATAI – Chief Financial Officer
Email: greg.weaver@atai.life

Media Contact:
Anne Donohoe
KCSA Strategic Communications
Phone: +1 (212) 896-1265
Email: atai@KCSA.com

For IntelGenx:
Stephen Kilmer
Investor Relations
(514) 331-7440 ext 232
stephen@intelgenx.com

Or

Andre Godin, CPA, CA
President and CFO
IntelGenx Technologies Corp.
(514) 331-7440 ext 203
andre@intelgenx.com

Posted on

Perception Neuroscience initiates Phase 2a study of PCN-101 (R-ketamine) for treatment resistant depression

Perception Neuroscience initiates Phase 2a study of PCN-101 (R-ketamine) for treatment resistant depression

NEW YORK and BERLIN, Sept. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Perception Neuroscience (Perception), an atai Life Sciences (atai) biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative therapies in neuropsychiatric diseases, today announced the initiation of a Phase 2a clinical study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of PCN-101 (R-ketamine). R-ketamine is a stereoisomer of ketamine being developed for therapeutic treatment of psychiatric disorders such as Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD). The Phase 2a clinical trial has received the necessary regulatory and ethics approvals to initiate the study.

The Phase 2a trial is a double blind, placebo-controlled study in patients with TRD. Each of the 3 parallel arms will enroll 31 patients at multiple locations. Patients will receive either placebo, a 30 mg dose, or a 60 mg dose of R-ketamine intravenously.

Patients will be assessed for depressive symptomology over the subsequent 14 days using the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rate Scale, or MADRS. Topline data from the study is expected to be reported at the end of 2022.

“We’re excited to take the next key step with this clinical trial to show the potential of PCN-101 for people living with TRD,” said Terence Kelly, PhD, CEO of Perception Neuroscience. “TRD impacts nearly 100 million people around the world, making up a third of patients living with depression; currently they are either undertreated or unresponsive to existing treatment options. We believe PCN-101 holds promise in helping such treatment-resistant patients, as a potential rapidly-acting antidepressant which can be administered at home.”

“We believe insight into the molecular properties of the single isomer, R-ketamine, has the potential to offer a highly differentiated profile from current treatment options,” added Florian Brand, CEO & Co-founder of atai Life Sciences. “Initiating this Phase 2 clinical study is a major step for our teams at Perception and atai and is a great achievement. We believe this work has the potential to deliver a novel option with diversified delivery capabilities that could decrease overall healthcare utilization, which may help us move toward our greater mission to improve care for patients who suffer from TRD.”

About PCN-101
Perception Neuroscience is developing PCN-101 (R-ketamine) for the treatment of Treatment Resistant Depression. PCN-101 is a single isomer of ketamine and belongs to a new generation of glutamate receptor modulators with the potential for rapid acting antidepressant (RAAD) activity and anti-suicidal effects. Pharmacologically, PCN-101 is a non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist. Nonclinical depression model studies in rodents suggest that R-ketamine could possess more durable and potent effects than S-ketamine despite a lower affinity to the NDMA receptor and potentially a more favorable safety and tolerability profile.

About Perception Neuroscience, Inc
Perception Neuroscience is a New York City-based biopharmaceutical company committed to developing therapies for neuropsychiatric diseases. Perception’s mission is to provide substantially more effective treatment solutions to serious psychiatric disorders. The company is a majority-owned subsidiary of atai Life Sciences.

About atai Life Sciences
atai is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders. atai was founded in 2018 as a response to the significant unmet need and lack of innovation in the mental health treatment landscape. atai is dedicated to acquiring, incubating and efficiently developing innovative therapeutics to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, and other mental health disorders. atai’s business model combines funding, technology, scientific, and regulatory expertise with a focus on psychedelic therapy and other drugs with differentiated safety profiles and therapeutic potential. By pooling resources and best practices, atai aims to responsibly accelerate the development of new medicines across its companies, seeking to effectively treat and ultimately heal mental health disorders. atai’s mission is to bridge the gap between what the mental healthcare system currently provides and what patients need. atai has offices in New York, London, and Berlin. For more information, please visit www.atai.life.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any express or implied statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements regarding the initiation of the Phase 2a trial by Perception and future activities thereunder, the potential of PCN-101, and similar statements of a future or forward-looking nature. Forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, including, without limitation, the important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in atai’s prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on June 21, 2021, as such factors may be updated from time to time in atai’s other filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof and accordingly undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. atai disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than to the extent required by applicable law.

Investor Contact:
Greg Weaver
Chief Financial Officer
Email: greg.weaver@atai.life

Media Contact:
Anne Donohoe
KCSA Strategic Communications
Phone: +1 (212) 896-1265
Email: atai@KCSA.com