Cybin (CYBN.NE) announced that they have entered into an exclusive research and development collaboration agreement with TMS NeuroHealth Centers, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Greenbrook TMS (GTMS.T).
The agreement will see Cybin and Greenbrook joining forces to create Mental Health Centers of Excellence. The purpose of these centers are to facilitate R&D on innovative psychedelic-based therapeutics for patients suffering from depression. With the centers focusing on depression, it is likely that they will utilize Cybin’s CYB001 psychedelic molecule, which is targeted at depression and is entering Phase II clinical trials.
The agreement says the two companies will be collaborating to form “one or more” Centers of Excellence, so the exact scale of the collaboration is not immediately obvious, although even one Center is a big deal. The center(s) will further Cybin’s clinical research, which could hypothetically be expanded to include their other psychedelic molecules, such as CYB003, which targets alcohol use disorder (AUD), or CYB004, which targets social and generalized anxiety disorder (SAD and GAD).
The centers will also aim to develop a deeper understanding of psychedelic therapies. “Set and setting” have long been slogans of the psychedelic movement, so having control over the setting, allowing for consistency over time, will help further their understanding. The press release also notes that they will utilize the center to help them with recruitment of clinical trial participants. Having a pre-existing pool of patients to pull from means their recruitment process will be easier and can be better targeted.
“We are extremely proud and excited to be working with the world-class team at Greenbrook TMS to establish these important Centers of Excellence. This opportunity to combine our pre-clinical and clinical knowledge of psychedelic therapeutics with Greenbrook’s deep experience in patient care and delivery is unparalleled and serves as a major step toward establishing a national distribution network for future psychedelic therapies,” stated Cybin CEO Doug Drysdale.
Greenbrook’s existing TMS NeuroHealth Centers are FDA approved and provide patients with targeted and non-invasive treatments for depression, although they also target other mental health issues, such as OCD, and help patients quit smoking. Greenbrook-affiliated physicians have treated over 17,000 patients, and Cybin believes any access to the extensive networks Greenbrook has built over the years could help them accelerate their clinical studies.
Finding the right patients is an underappreciated challenge for psychedelic companies. Because their goal is to get FDA approval through the argument that they are providing a treatment for something that is recognized as a real illness, and not simply that the products are safe, they need to recruit people with actual mental health issues for their studies. However, if you put out an add saying “come join this psychedelic study if you have depression” you would run the risk of fakers who just want access to psilocybin. If you have contact information for those suffering from the issues you are seeking to address, you avoid this problem. This partnership has a lot of upside for Cybin that could help them going forward.
Following the news, Cybin shares are up 8 cents and are currently trading at $2.78.
Full disclosure: Cybin is an Equity Guru marketing client.