Staying true to their name, NeonMind Biosciences (CANADA: NEON) (U.S.: NMDBF) (EUROPE: 6UF) is committed to awaking vibrant change in patients’ psychological experiences, utilizing strategies and techniques including the administration of psilocybin and, as you’ll see further into this article, music.
Having a sound strategy and mandate is only half the battle: one must be able to weave their way throughout the condition of the markets in order to succeed. Such is the value of industry veterans such as Rob Tessarolo.
“There is a clear need for new treatments, new solutions, new approaches for the obesity epidemic and psychedelics are well positioned to offer new therapeutic breakthroughs,” states Rob, who has agreed to speak at the Psychedelic, Therapeutics, & Drug Development Conference, taking place virtually on May 4-6. “NeonMind will continue to advance our important research and be a leader in commercialization following regulatory approval.”
NeonMind remains excited to be in psychedelics, an industry that is currently undergoing rapid expansion. There seems to be a never-ending flow of emerging companies stepping into the market, and each of them are brainstorming important research ideas, as well as eagerly competing for maximum growth in the space.
Regulatory agencies are becoming more familiar with companies within the psilocybin sector, as the interest shown towards the substances in question is always growing.
Simply put, people want to see new innovative approaches to care, whether that be mental or physical.
NeonMind has laid out three core objectives for the remainder of the year, which are broken down into sections: Plan, Resource, and Execute.
Plan
President & CEO Rob Tessarolo outlines their first core objective, which involves establishing an integrated development plan (IDP).
“We have established a distinctive focus on developing innovative treatment modalities for people dealing with obesity. Psychedelic therapy has the potential to institute long term positive behaviors that may impact food intake and other lifestyle changes which affect weight management, and psilocybin in low doses may help control appetite and satiety. This important element sets us apart from numerous other psychedelic companies working to advance research ideas in psychedelics.”
Obesity remains one of the leading health conditions on the U.S., with 40% of the population suffering from it. Tackling this previously neglected area of mental and physical health can potentially be groundbreaking for the well-being of society in general. Several large corporations that maintain a foothold on what we consume as citizens remain focused purely on revenue and volume of sales, further enabling those who have physiological addictions to overeating. Diving deeper into the mental health aspect of obesity is NeonMind’s ultimate key to strategically prove the efficacy of psilocybin as an alternative treatment to mainstream problems.
Resource
As far as resource, NeonMind has been assembling world class talent to accelerate the development of the research, execution and approval of their pending studies and clinical trials.
New additions to the R&D team include:
Ernie Ho, Ph.D. (consultant)
Ernie has successfully developed and commercialized products in the biopharma and diagnostics industry. He has experience throughout the value chain shaping products to maximize commercial success including pre-clinical, clinical, manufacturing, and product management. He has played a key role in corporate development in multiple licensing, M&A deals and capital raises. Ernie received his PhD in Physiology and Pharmacology at Western University.
Clive Ward-Able, MD (consultant)
Dr. Clive Ward-Able is a physician and a pharmacist who has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for over 28 years with 21 of those at the executive level. He has worked in large and small pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in Canada, the U.S., UK, Switzerland, and South Africa in the departments of R&D, medical, marketing, and sales. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors for Clinical Trials Ontario and has been a member of the Medical & Scientific Advisory Committee of Innovative Medicines Canada.
Albert Garcia-Romeu, Ph.D. (advisory board member)
Albert Garcia-Romeu is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His research examines the effects of psychedelics in humans, with a focus on psilocybin as an aid in the treatment of addiction. He has conducted more than 90 high-dose psilocybin sessions in the laboratory since 2012 and is a founding member of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research.
Execute
Putting their proven team to work as they continue to innovate and brainstorm new approaches to mental health treatment, NeonMind has deployed a unique strategy to convey their ultimate mandate.
Healing through hearing.
Music has clinically proven to have a significant improvement on the impact of a therapy session, with specific benefit for therapies that utilize psychedelics.
NeonMind is approaching this faucet of treatment in a few different ways. The company will survey 50 people in a study called an online candidate validation study, which will look into the self-transcendent emotions people feel when listening to snippets of musical pieces. Ryerson’s SMART (Science of Music Auditory Research and Technology) Lab will conduct an in-person playlist validation study, allowing for more comprehensive insight into how music affects one’s mental state. Even further, the company will use measured biological markers in another in-person study focusing on the physiological validation of the potential for certain playlist to ignite physiological response in patients.
Once fine-tuned, NeonMind’s music program will be implemented in clinical trials moving forward.
Frank Russo, having been Ryerson University’s professor of Psychology, is currently conducting research on the cognitive, biological, and social-emotional bases of music and speech at the SMART Lab.
“This is an exciting frontier to be a part of that dovetails nicely with several aspects of research that I’ve been conducting into the psychology of music throughout my career,” says Dr. Russo. “Music without a psychedelic has the potential to generate self-transcendent emotions such as compassion and awe, which may be transformative; on the basis of past research on music and psychedelics, it seems that the music a person listens to during a therapeutic trip is a major determinant of the overall experience. The playlist we are working towards takes various theoretical considerations into account, and the series of studies we’ve designed will enable us to iteratively assess and refine its efficacy.”
Disclaimer: NeonMind Biosciences is a communications client of Edge Investments, and we own shares in the company.