This week’s Psychedelic Groundbreaker is Psilera Bioscience. Psilera’s mission is to make a significant impact on mental health and improve the human condition.
What’s this article series about? Psychedelic Groundbreakers is a get-to-know-you-style blog series highlighting prominent and groundbreaking companies in the psychedelics industry.
What’s your company vision?
Reimagining psychoactive natural products as building blocks for the next generation of therapies to improve mental health in the areas of mood, cognitive, and substance abuse disorders.
Why was your company started?
Psilera’s founders have personally witnessed the effects of mental health and wanted to make a difference. We leverage our research strengths with an award-winning executive team from the pharmaceutical and cannabis industries to fulfill our mission to improve the lives of patients.
What’s been the biggest challenge so far?
As first-time founders and career scientists, fundraising has been a learning experience. Thankfully, we had outstanding demand for investment and were able to be selective in our seed fundraise with investors who see our long-term vision for the psychedelics industry and our ability to execute our plan.
What excites you most?
The sheer potential of psychedelic compounds, and similar analogs, to reshape the way we treat mental health disorders.
What is your biggest lesson learned when raising capital?
Confidence, we never wavered on our plan but having the ability to communicate this succinctly and effectively to investors.
Did you notice any type of investor differences while raising money?
There was a clear preference from certain VCs who wanted Canadian listings/RTOs. For us, it was never an option as we see ourselves as a more traditional biotech company. We are starting to see more VCs shift their mentality towards early-stage private companies with great management teams.
Describe your business model in 10 words or less
Formulate first generation psychedelics and optimize next-generation compounds using technology.
What tips would you give founders entering fundraising?
Have a sound business model and a team with relevant experience. Forecast future fundraising targets to be transparent with investors. Believe in yourselves and communicate confidence.
Anything else you would like to add?
Our focus for early clinical development is on DMT. This compound has been overlooked due to its short duration and lack of oral bioavailability. However, our Ph.D. founders are skilled formulators and have validated preclinical data for transdermal (for sub-psychedelic dosing) and intranasal (for breakthrough experiences) delivery. DMT has a great therapeutic profile, is the only psychedelic with neurogenesis properties at sub-psychedelic dosages, has better clinical scalability, and is better tolerated than 5-MeO-DMT.
We’d like to thank Psilera Bioscience for being a part of the Psychedelic Groundbreakers series. Stay tuned for weekly profiles on leaders in the psychedelic industry, and check out the Psychedelic Directory to learn more about Psilera Bioscience.
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