Mindset Pharma Inc (CSE:MSET, OTCQB:MSSTF, FRA:9DF). has selected Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD) and End of Life Cancer Angst as initial target indications for its lead clinical candidate MSP-1014.
The company said MSP-1014 is a novel patent-pending drug candidate that, based on preclinical data, shows potential to be a safer second-generation psilocybin-like therapy with decreased potential for side effects.
“Psilocybin has demonstrated encouraging efficacy in treating TRD and End of Life Cancer Angst in a number of clinical studies and we believe our novel drug candidate, MSP-1014, represents a safer and more scalable evolution to its psilocybin predecessor,” said James Lanthier, CEO of Mindset, in a statement.
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“TRD represents a large and untreated population with a third of major depressive disorder sufferers resistant to presently available treatments, while End of Life Angst is a major cause of depression and anxiety with limited treatment options. We see an opportunity to bridge a significant treatment gap with our next generation medicine and plan to advance MSP-1014, as well as other candidates across our library of patent-pending compounds, through the regulatory process as quickly as possible,” Lanthier added.
Joseph Araujo, chief scientific officer of Mindset, noted that in a head-to-head comparison with psilocybin, MSP-1014 demonstrated superior head twitch response and minimal change in core body temperature, which suggests its compound potentially produces a greater hallucinogenic response with an improved safety profile.
“Furthermore, MSP-1014 leverages Mindset’s proprietary psilocybin synthesis process, enabling scale-up efficiency in manufacturing and positioning us well for progressing our novel drug candidate through to clinical trials,” he said.
Mindset is developing several novel families of next-generation psychedelic compounds, as well as an innovative process to chemically synthesize psilocybin as well as its own proprietary compounds.
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