MINDCURE CEO Kelsey Ramsden on Exciting Ibogaine Synthesis Patent News

Kelsey Ramsden was with us late last month to deliver a fabulous interview about the iSTRYM platform made by her company, Mind Cure Health Inc (CNSX: MCUR) (OTCMKTS: MCURF). She’s back with us again now to discuss some hot news for investors about the company’s first investment bank coverage and updates on MINDCURE applying for provisional patents on the chemical synthesis of Ibogaine.

Here’s some highlights from the interview.

Maxim Group initiates coverage

Late last month, Maxim Group analysts Jason McCarthy and Michael Okunewitch initiated coverage on MINDCURE. This is exciting news for investors in two ways, Ramsden says. The first is that “Maxim doesn’t mess around.” Secondly, she adds, it gives investors a place to dive into the company’s fundamentals and understand its two-pronged strategy.

Maxim Group gave MINDCURE a buy rating and a 12 month price target of $1.25. This is the company’s first investment bank coverage, and it is a 3x increase over pre-coverage price of the stock.

MINDCURE files two provisional patent applications for chemical synthesis of Ibogaine

Company R&D has uncovered not just one but two viable chemical synthesis processes to produce Ibogaine, meaning that MINDCURE can explore two different ways to produce the molecule. MINDCURE has now filed provisional patent applications on both.

Ramsden says that having two routes by which the company can manufacture Ibogaine means that they can explore which synthesis process is more cost effective and can produce the molecule with the most certainty and consistency.

The provisional patent, she adds, “we didn’t just throw it out there.” She is confident that the company will have success obtaining the provisional patents.

Ibogaine synthesis provides MINDCURE with an edge in several ways

Ramsden says, “Ibogaine is not easy to synthesize. That’s why we went after it.” She further explains that the choice of spending investor money on Ibogaine was the result of a risk and reward profile.

Ibogaine’s potential for treating addictions has already been tentatively explored in the past, with extremely favourable early results.

Traditionally, Ibogaine is made with an extraction process from using the plant, which is then finished in the lab. The challenge of using extraction processes in research, however, is that it adds a degree of variability that no one wants to see, she says. All Ibogaine currently being used in the clinics has that degree of variability, “which means a super long-shot chance that it would ever be FDA approved,” Ramsden adds.

Synthesis of Ibogaine not only provides researchers a consistent supply of a molecule that can be relied on, it would also be more likely to get FDA approval. Additionally, the Ibogaine plant is actually endangered and progressively more difficult to get, “which is another reason why the lab driven route with a completely synthesized molecule has a lot of upsides.” Ramsden says.

Ibogaine synthesis and manufacturing doesn’t preclude NMEs, says Ramsden

She acknowledges that 18-MC (18-Methoxycoronaridin) is a great project, but Ramsden says that MINDCURE’s position is that the pure Ibogaine molecule would beat to market any NME (New Molecular Entity). She adds, “That doesn’t preclude us from coming in with an NME, but it does maintain the pole position to market.”

Additionally, she says once someone begins utilizing a molecule, it’s difficult to get them to switch, underscoring the importance of coming to market sooner.

Five weeks ago, Ramsden indicated a focus on scaling up manufacturing for pharmaceutical-grade Ibogaine. She says this will occur after MINDCURE decides on which Ibogaine synthesis will become the lead production process.