Ketamine One (NEO:MEDI.AQN) is separating itself from its psychedelic peers by building the infrastructure needed to make psychedelic-assisted treatment more effective.
The Canadian company is creating a space for itself in the burgeoning psychedelics industry that sits somewhere between clinical practice, research and technology. A patient walking into a Ketamine One clinic in North America can expect to be offered a range of treatments, including psychedelic-assisted options, from a skilled medical professional and guided by cutting-edge technology as part of the therapeutic process. It’s an offering that is unique to Ketamine One, and the company is working hard to make it accessible throughout North America.
Interim CEO Adam Deffett told Proactive that he was watching with interest as the psychedelic story started to unfold. As more and more companies sprung up and started to go public, he noted the explosion of interest in the space – and with good reason, he said, because there had been so little innovation on the pharmacology side of mental health for so long. Psychedelics are starting to come to the forefront as the basis for various treatment options for many mental health issues.
READ: Ketamine One inks letter of intent for two ketamine infusion clinics in Texas
From a capital markets perspective, success in the lab does not always translate to money in the bank. Deffett experienced that himself during a brief stint in cannabis. “The hype is great, but at the end of the day you have to form a business that can sustain itself,” he said.
Ketamine One is one such business, in Deffett’s eyes. “There was a great hole in the space in terms of being able to have exposure to psychedelics, being involved in some of this innovative treatment and discovery, but still create a business that made sense and would build shareholder value over time.”
Most companies in the current psychedelics space are drug developers, that are focused on discovery and clinical trials by making bets on specific molecules. It can be an incredibly risky venture for a small company, however – something that the Ketamine One team wasn’t interested in passing along to their shareholders. Instead, the firm created a company focused on the infrastructure side of the space that could generate cash flow right away, and still have great exposure to psychedelics.
The group zeroed-in on acquiring clinics that are operational with strong track records. Right now, the psychedelic that is best understood from a therapeutic perspective is ketamine – the side effects are well known and patient outcomes have been impressive. Ketamine One now owns a network of 16 clinics across North America, with the aim to expand to 30 by the end of 2022. Another three clinics are in the final stages of acquisition. Deffett is hoping to have more than 20 in the network by the end of 2021.
DEEP DIVE: Ketamine One wants to make psychedelic treatments for mental health available across North America
Clinics only form part of Ketamine One’s offering, however. The company also owns London, Ontario-based contract research organization, KGK Science Inc, that works on clinical studies and product development, giving it the ability to get involved in the design of clinical trials and contract research. What’s great about KGK Science is that the 24-year old business gets exposure to clinical trials without having to fund them – they’re actually getting paid for them.
“There’s great synergies with the clinics,” Deffett explained. “We’re able to do the clinical trials in our own clinics and give our doctors and clinicians exposure to those drugs in order to better understand how they work. Patients can potentially get access to clinical trials for other treatments. It’s much more broad than ketamine, and in the case of KGK Science, much larger than even psychedelics.”
And there’s more. Ketamine One occupies an interesting niche at the intersection of psychedelics and digital health technologies, many of which were not originally designed for psychedelic treatment purposes. The technologies that Ketamine One works with are geared for both in-clinic settings, and broader use in the outside world.
One such example of the type of technology being adopted by the company is an olfactory-enabled virtual reality (“VR”) platform designed to deepen immersion, promote relaxation, and help manage stress. Ketamine One signed an exclusive agreement for the use of the technology in psychedelic treatments through a partnership with OVR Tech LLC, which will provide its INHALE Wellness Platform during an initial two-year term in Ketamine One clinics.
There’s a lot of interesting and exciting work going on in VR from a therapeutic standpoint, Deffett said. “Ultimately the most important is to improve the patient experience and patient outcomes. We know that set and setting is very important to the therapeutic process – VR helps to customize that set and setting in a therapeutic context. Using VR allow us to immediately broaden the choices for that set and setting by ushering a patient into a different world.” How often do people get a therapy session on a relaxing beach with waves rolling in the distance and the smell of the ocean in the air?
READ: Ketamine One signs LOI with Veteran Services USA to open therapy center
The vision is to create an ecosystem in the mental health field for patients to receive effective treatment. While many different patient populations can benefit from psychedelic therapy, one group in particular has become a focus of sorts for Ketamine One: veterans. Ketamine One’s subsidiary Integrated Rehab and Performance Ltd (IRP) is Canada’s only set of physical rehabilitation clinics exclusively treating members of the veteran and first responder patient population. The group has successfully performed over 10,000 unique treatments for past or present personnel of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well as first responders including firefighters, law enforcement officers, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians.
IRP recently announced it is expanding its business from its existing clinic in Victoria, British Columbia and creating veteran-focused, multidisciplinary clinics in four locations across Canada.
“There’s an enormous need to service this really important group, so we’re very excited to be able to expand IRP to five locations and beyond,” Deffett explained.
The company will look at opening new locations in areas with a high concentration of veterans in the future, such as Blue Island, Illinois, where it recently signed a deal to lease approximately 5,000 square feet of space. The strategy makes sense from a business perspective, but also provides hope to people who may need more intensive treatment than conventional mental health practices are able to offer.
“Our veterans treatment platform is more holistic,” Deffett concluded. “The ideal treatment setting is not to have patients have to drive around to different places to access all your health needs. We want to build up a centre capable of catering to a wide variety of needs. It’s not just psychedelics, but more holistic therapy with more services to be added as we grow.”
Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas