MindMed Announces Project Angie, Targeting the Treatment of Pain with Psychedelics
Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. (NEO: MMED) (OTCMKTS: MMEDF), a leading psychedelic-inspired medicine company announces the launch of its Project Angie to advance the development of psychedelics, including LSD, to treat pain conditions. MindMed is currently exploring two primary clinical indications for the treatment of pain.
For the commencement of Project Angie, MindMed will initiate a study of LSD in a severe pain indication. MindMed is currently preparing a pre-IND briefing package for this Phase 2a Proof of Concept study which it plans to submit to the FDA in the second half of 2021. In addition, the Company is also evaluating a second indication in a common, often debilitating, chronic pain syndrome.
Patients experiencing chronic pain represent a large and growing segment of the population and, according to IQVIA, the global market for analgesics is expected to grow over $31 billion by 2030. At the same time, overuse of opioids in the treatment of pain has contributed to the opioid epidemic in the United States and around the world. There has been little innovation in the pain market in decades and the treatment paradigm is still dominated by opioids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
Preliminary evidence, including a clinical study co-authored by MindMed collaborating researchers Prof. Dr. Matthias Liechti and Dr. Kim Kuypers, suggests that psychedelics may offer an entirely novel mechanism of action for treating pain, which could ultimately offer patients a new treatment option. The exact mechanisms by which psychedelics may carry out their analgesic effect have not been fully characterized but may involve direct effects on endogenous pain modulation pathways. This mechanism is particularly relevant as altered function, or dysfunction, of these pain modulation pathways has been implicated in a range of pain syndromes.
“Evidence dating back to the 1950s suggests that LSD and other psychedelics may have analgesic effects, but this treatment area remains largely untapped by companies studying psychedelics, with the majority of research focusing solely on psychiatric indications” said MindMed Chief Development Officer, Rob Barrow.
With the launch of Project Angie, we seek to align closely with MindMed’s core mission to improve mental health and combat substance use for the many patients in need. If we can help to develop a new paradigm to treat pain, it may have the potential to greatly reduce the use of addictive medicines such as opioids currently ravaging society and its mental health.
MindMed CEO & Co-Founder J.R. Rahn
Additional details about MindMed’s planned clinical trials in pain will be forthcoming.
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