Psilera, one of our most successful portfolio companies to date, announced the selection of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) as the lead indication for its groundbreaking drug candidate, PSIL-006.

BvFTD is a debilitating disorder that leads to progressive cognitive decline, personality changes, and impaired social behavior. It typically affects individuals as young as 40 years old, causing significant distress to patients and their families.

Psilera's decision to pursue this indication for PSIL-006 underscores the company's commitment to advancing innovative therapies for underserved patient populations.  Here’s more: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/psilera-announces-lead-indication-for-psil-006-behavioral-variant-frontotemporal-dementia-bvftd-302041782.html

Filament Health Corp. announced that the FDA accepted its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for PEX010, its botanical psilocybin drug candidate designed for the treatment of substance use disorders.

The IND-opening protocol had previously been submitted to Health Canada and had received no objection from the department. In addition, 24 research institutions and licensing partners in Canada, the USA, Europe, and Israel are studying PEX010 for conditions including alcohol use disorder, depression, and coma. Check it out: https://www.filament.health/news/filament-health-announces-fda-opening-of-investigational-new-drug-application-for-substance-use-disorders

Bipartisan Arizona lawmakers introduced a bill that would legalize psilocybin service centers where people could receive the psychedelic in a medically supervised setting.

The legislation would allow the Department of Human Services to license psilocybin-assisted therapy centers in the state, where trained facilitators could administer the psychedelic. This would significantly expand on Arizona’s existing research-focused psychedelics law that provides $5 million in annual funding to support studies into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin for conditions such as PTSD and depression. Here’s more: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/arizona-lawmakers-file-bill-to-legalize-psilocybin-service-centers-as-state-funds-psychedelics-research/

Did you know that after experimenting with LSD in 1955, historian, science writer and philosopher Gerald Heard persuaded Aldous Huxley to try it?

Heard praised LSD as a catalyst for the creation of moments of near-religious insight, describing it like this…

“There are the colors and the beauties, the designs, the beautiful way things appear… But that’s only the beginning. Suddenly you notice that there aren’t these separations. That we’re not on a separate island shouting across to somebody else trying to hear what they are saying and misunderstanding. You know. You used the word yourself: empathy.”

Here’s a short clip of Heard speaking about LSD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pI5XZxpQaI