Incannex Healthcare Ltd (ASX:IHL, NASDAQ:IXHL) is expanding its psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy vision with the help of Australia’s leading psychedelics experts.
The company has laid plans to open psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy clinics in Australia and overseas, starting with a pioneer clinic in Melbourne this year.
To realise that vision, Dr Paul Liknaitzky, Professor Suresh Sundram and Sean O’Carroll have agreed to join the Board of Directors at an Incannex subsidiary, where they’ll take key roles within the venture.
With new expertise on the board and a growing understanding of the role psychedelics can play in the psychotherapy space, Incannex is ready to pivot from a company that’s purely research to one that delivers transformative services.
Multi-billion-dollar market potential
Now that the Therapeutic Goods Administration has decided to down-schedule psychedelics like psilocybin and MDMA for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Incannex believes that psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy could mature into a multi-billion-dollar market.
Incannex director and psychedelic clinics business lead Peter Widdows said: “We initially intended to use only ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, with the possibility of expanding into psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for generalised anxiety disorder subject to regulatory approval.
“When the TGA announced the down-scheduling of MDMA and psilocybin for two indications, we were in a perfect position to expand our plans to cover this wider set of related therapies for certain indications.”
“The company has entered a partnership with Australia’s leading clinical psychedelic professionals, all of whom have extensive experience within clinical psychedelic research, treatment and training.”
Setting the benchmark
Incannex is already in advanced talks to set up its flagship clinic in Melbourne — a major urban city home to more than 5.2 million people.
The company plans to open the doors before the end of 2023, but its operations strategy means it’s poised to rapidly expand operations both locally and overseas.
Incoming director Paul Liknaitzky said: “Very few people in Australia have the unique expertise and experience in delivering psychedelic therapies and it is incumbent on those who do to set the highest standards in patient safety, quality of care, ethical conduct and accessibility.
“I’m grateful to Incannex for providing the resources to do this work and trusting us to build the clinics of the future.
“And I’m grateful to be part of a brilliant multidisciplinary team of sensible, compassionate, skilled and highly experienced professionals who already do fantastic work within clinical psychedelic research, all motivated towards supporting real and lasting improvements in the lives of patients experiencing mental ill-health within the community."
New opportunity
Incannex CEO and managing director Joel Latham said the company had been moving in this direction for quite some time and that it was exciting to get this new vertical in motion.
“The opportunity is to deliver the highest quality care and make a real difference in people’s lives, alongside substantial and imminent revenue potential,” he explained.
Latham also noted the clinic rollout would not impact the company’s core clinical assets; instead, the business will be run in parallel as an Incannex-owned subsidiary.
“The implementation of this strategy will in part provide the platform to allow an accelerated path to commercialisation for our drug assets post-clinical success,” Latham concluded.