Mind Medicine and Other Psychedelics Companies Looking to Go Public in 2020
It was only a matter of months ago that psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, was fast tracked by the FDA as a breakthrough treatment for depression. Big business might be the next move for psychedelics with companies like Mind Medicine Inc. and Field Trip Psychedelics Inc. sharing plans to go public.
Mind Medicine, which will be helmed by former Canopy Growth Corp co-CEO Bruce Linton and Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary, plans to list under the ticker MMED via a reverse takeover by the first week of March. “Our ambition is to be one of the first publicly listed neuro-pharmaceutical companies developing psychedelic medicines,” Rahn told Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, Field Trip raised $8.5 million as part of a series A funding round that wrapped up last week. The company intends to launch a network of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy clinics, according to Executive Chairman Ronan Levy. He and the rest of Field Trip's owners are deciding whether to go public or stick to private funding.
A number of companies are already conducting clinical trials to determine the effectiveness of various psychedelics as treatments for ailments like post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Compass Pathways, who played no small role in the aforementioned breakthrough treatment status, has not revealed whether it plans to go public.
It remains to be seen whether additional U.S. cities will decriminalize psilocybin or other entheogenics over the course of 2020.
