Part 1 and 2: PharmaDrug CEO Daniel Cohen On Johns Hopkins University Partnership To Evaluate DMT
PharmaDrug and Johns Hopkins University have joined forces for a clinical trial seeking to further the research into DMT and its potential capabilities as a psychedelic therapeutic. The study aims to further explore the acute and enduring neural and psychological effects of N,N-Dimethyltryptamine, and an undisclosed molecule, both in the human brain and elsewhere in the body.
This announcement is just one of many for Johns Hopkins, as the University is quickly establishing itself as the frontline for advanced research into psychedelic therapeutics.
Johns Hopkins and biotech and life sciences group Mydecine announce a 5-year deal last week that would look to correlate psychedelic molecules and their use in therapy for smoking cessation.
The trial’s focus on N,N-Dimethyltryptamine runs in line with PharmaDrug’s goal of becoming the leader in DMT-derived pharmaceuticals. The FDA has already granted PharmaDrug an “orphan drug designation” for the use of DMT in patients receiving solid organ transplants to aid in the prevention of ischemia-reperfusion injury.
PharmaDrug CEO Daniel Cohen sat down with The Dales Report to discuss the trials and his expectations for the partnership.
Cohen shares that PharmaDrug always knew DMT would serve as their main focus, and he felt that the best way to do so required the group to “surround themselves with world-leading academics to create a think tank internally.”
This ‘Think Tank’ included World-Renowned DMT Expert Dr. Steven A. Barker, whom PharmaDrug named to Its Scientific Advisory Board for Psychedelic Pharmaceuticals.
“We had a chemist, someone who did groundbreaking work in animal models. But we thought that it made sense to add someone who was doing work for humans. So we reached out to JHU, and probably at the right place and right time. They are at the top of the pyramid in terms of academic research and psychedelics.”
Cohen elaborated on why Johns Hopkins is arguably the best potential partner for any company looking to substantiate the role of psychedelics in modern medicine and psychology.
“Dr. Roland is one of the first in terms of getting academic research done in psychedelics, starting in the late ’90s. He is kind of like the rebirth of the whole movement.”
“When we approached them, they hadn’t done much with DMT but wanted to, so we hit them at the right time.”
Cohen shared that Johns Hopkins would now get the study cleared by the MDA, a process that will likely take six months.
As for the trial itself, the group looks to focus on two specific areas – dose escalation and comparative psychedelics.
“Comparative psychedelics” refers to the research into an unnamed chemical that the pair hope to explore and study alongside DMT.
Cohen and Dales dive deep into the revolutionary partnership and further discuss DMT, psychedelics, and the future for an industry that has the potential to change the world.
