Psychedelics Briefs: Novamind Opens Utah Clinic, atai Launches Firm to Develop Nose-to-Brain Drug Delivery

Novamind has completed construction on a clinic in Draper, Utah, that will focus on integrative psychiatric care and clinical research. The new clinic will serve as a referral center for clients with treatment-resistant conditions, such as depression, eating disorders, PTSD and OCD.

Toronto-based Novamind said in a news release that the opening puts the company on pace to open 4 new locations in Utah by Sepember, which will double its overall network to 8 clinics. The company plans to expand into additional states later this year through organic growth and additional acquisitions.

The new clinic in Draper will offer psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, with clients accessing therapy in individual and group settings. In appropriate cases, patients will have the option to participate in clinical trials for psychedelic medicine and other research-stage treatments. The facility will also host studies to validate Novamind’s psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy protocols for treatment-resistant conditions.

Novamind said in a release that, pending FDA approval, it will provide additional psychedelic therapies and medicines, including MDMA and psilocybin, in the future.

atai, University Launch Firm to Develop Drug Delivery Method

Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm atai Life Sciences has partnered with UniQuest, a university technology transfer company in Australia, to announce the launch of InnarisBio Inc. to develop a novel sol-gel intranasal drug delivery technology for treating mental health disorders.

The technology is designed to deliver compounds as a liquid at room temperature, which then become a gel at body temperature. The platform has been used with water soluble and insoluble compounds and extracts. Whereas central nervous system (CNS) disorders can pose problems for traditional drug delivery methods because of the blood-brain barrier blocking CNS entry of therapeutic agents, the sol-gel platform offers direct nose-to-brain delivery, which can potential increase patient compliance, lower dose requirements, speed up the onset of action, and minimize systemic exposure.