Numinus Wellness (NUMI.V) to Open Clinical Neurology Centre, Completes Acquisition of NCT

Numinus Wellness (NUMI.V) announced today that it has closed its acquisition of the Neurology Centre of Toronto (NCT).

“NCT by Numinus represents an important paradigm shift in neurologic care…By accounting for both medical and psychological needs while incorporating innovative psychedelic-assisted therapies, we aim to help patients improve their overall quality of life in an integrated and sustainable way,” said Dr. Evan Lewis (MD), NCT.

What Does NCT Bring to the Table?

Founded in 2017 by Dr. Even Lewis, NCT is committed to delivering comprehensive and timely neurological care centered around the needs of its patients and families. NCT’s current team of neurologists, neurology-related specialists, and allied health practitioners provide expertise in the areas of autism, cognitive behavioral therapy, neurodevelopmental disorders, and more. In the last few years, NCT has made a name for itself as a clinical neurology leader. Furthermore, NCT has developed a rapid access care model that increases patient throughput, reduces wait times, improves cost-effectiveness, and facilitates the scaling of services. In particular, NCT is recognized for using medical cannabis to treat both adult and pediatric patients.

Yes, you read that right. If you’re taken aback, it’s likely due to the negative connotations we inherently associate with cannabis. Although I will admit, providing cannabis to the pediatric population seems pretty outlandish. However, through its Virtual Medical Cannabis Clinic, NCT has been providing patients with expert opinions and knowledge pertaining to the use of medical cannabis to treat neurological diseases in both adults and children. Not convinced? In a study published by the Cannabinoid Journal evaluating the efficacy of CBD in treating epilepsy in the pediatric population, purified CBD demonstrated a median decrease in seizure frequency from baseline compared to placebo controls.

NCT by Numinus

With this in mind, NCT’s developments will serve as the foundation for the “Neurology Centre of Toronto by Numinus” (NCT by Numinus). This centre will serve as a pathway for Numinus to expand into a clinical neurology centre with a specialization in psychedelic neurology. Currently, treatment options for neurological disorders range from lifestyle changes, physiotherapy, pain management, and medications to either restore function or prevent a patient’s condition from worsening. Some of these disorders include concussions, migraines, epilepsy, depression, and anxiety. As someone who was taking antidepressants and antianxiety medications through most of his teens and early adulthood, I hated it. Aside from constantly having a dry mouth, I felt like an emotionless shell of myself. My mind would wander and I would even lose my physical balance from time to time. I have nothing against antidepressants or medications in general, however, I personally wasn’t willing to compromise my psychological wellbeing just to sweep my problems under the rug.

“We are honored to welcome such innovators to Numinus and look forward to working together to advance our mission of delivering transformative healing…With neurologic care in the Numinus portfolio, we continue to thoughtfully grow our patient and revenue base while increasing access for communities in need. We are excited to further expand our services as pioneers of psychedelic medicine and transformative mental health care,” said Payton Nyquvest, Numinus CEO and Chair.

With that rant out of the way, Numinus and NCT both recognize that novel therapies are needed to address both the medical and psychological components of neurological diseases. To date, research has shown that psychedelic medication like psilocybin and MDMA are capable of opening new pathways in the brain that, in conjunction with professional therapy, can treat a wide range of mental health disorders. For example, a study conducted by Johns Hopkins Medicine revealed that two doses of psilocybin, in combination with supportive psychotherapy, produced rapid and large reductions in depressive symptoms.

In this study, researchers recruited 24 people with a long-term documented history of depression, with most having experienced persisting symptoms for roughly two years prior to the study. According to the GRID-Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, where a score of 24 or more indicates severe depression, participants had an average depression scale rating of 23 at enrollment. However, after one week and four weeks after treatment, participants had an average depression scale score of 8. To put things into perspective, for the entire group, 67% showed a more than 50% reduction in depressive symptoms at the one-week follow-up and 71% at the four-week follow-up. Moreover, at four weeks post-treatment, 54% of participants were considered to be in remission and no longer qualified as being depressed.

I am not big into psychedelics, but if you showed me these results a few years ago, I wouldn’t have hesitated to seek psychedelic treatment for my depression. Moving on, through NCT by Numinus, the Company intends to explore the application of psychedelic-assisted therapies in neurological care. Keep in mind, depression is just one of many neurological disorders and psychedelics may just be the skeleton key we need to unlock effective treatments for these disorders.

Terms and Financials

According to the terms of the agreement to acquire NCT, Numinus has paid $300,000 in cash and $200,000 in Numinus shares. Additionally, the Company will pay $500,000 in Numinus shares through future performance-based payments. According to Numinus’ financial results for the three and nine months ended May 31, 2021, and 2020, the Company’s cash position has increased substantially from CAD$1,627,329 on August 31, 2020, to CAD$62,230,415 on May 31, 2021. Similarly, Numinus’ total assets and total liabilities increased to CAD$70,166,573 and CAD$3,110,407 in the same period, respectively. The Company’s revenue also increased to CAD$1,022,771 on May 31, 2021, marking an improvement from CAD$610,148 year-over-year. With a strong financial position, Numinus is well-positioned to tackle the psychedelic drugs market, which is expected to reach a valuation of USD$10.75 billion by 2027.