☁️🍄 Issue No. 033

MDMA milestone, psychonaut psychologists, and end-of-life entheogens

September 17, 2023

Good morning, everyone. You’re reading Headlines, a curation of the latest developments across the consciousness, psychedelic, and mental health economy.

QUICK HITS

  • Listen up. On the power of psychedelic music therapy. 

  • Trippy trajectory. Analysts predict psychedelic market revenue will exceed $12B by 2035. 

  • Mental matters. Yale settles lawsuit, revises mental health policies following campus suicide. 

  • Game on. Prescription ADHD video game maker Akili cuts 40% of staff, announces business model pivot to nonprescription products. 

  • Calling all psychonauts. Psychedelic education and training platform F.I.V.E. is seeking volunteers for a first-of-its-kind EEG imaging study assessing 5-MeO-DMT’s effects on the human brain. 

  • Red, white, and shroom. Michigan lawmakers urge Congress to prioritize research and investment into psychedelics as treatment for veterans. 

  • Funding the future. Tiny Blue Dot Foundation is taking applications for ten neuroscientific research projects, each to be awarded up to $900K.

NEWS & TRENDS

1) Home stretch: Major milestone for MDMA therapy

Big psychedelic news this week — MAPS has published long-anticipated results from its final Phase III trial on MDMA. The findings confirm what earlier studies showed — that MDMA-assisted therapy can lead to major improvements for those struggling with PTSD. By the study’s end, 85.6% of participants experienced clinically meaningful benefits, and 71% no longer met the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis.

This marks a significant step for MAPS, which has been funding research and investment since the 1980s to make MDMA-assisted therapy legal. Now comes the home stretch: compiling data from across 18 MAPS-sponsored Phase II and III trials to submit to the FDA. If all goes as planned, MDMA therapy could be legalized as soon as 2024. Stay tuned. → Re-read Issue No. 012: Meet Molly

2) Psychedelics 🤝 Psychology 

With psychedelics headlines trending (see above) alongside a burgeoning mental health industry projected to clear $560B, it’s undeniable that we’re in the midst of a full-blown psychological and psychedelic renaissance. And, it’s no coincidence that the two are taking place in parallel. 

Indeed, many of psychology’s most revered thinkers were enthusiastic psychonauts, whose insights and understanding of consciousness and the human mind were significantly shaped by the drugs they consumed. That includes everyone from Sigmund Freud, widely regarded as the founder of psychoanalysis, to William James, the “father of American psychology.”→ Read more

DEALS & DEBUTS

🌊 Beckley Waves, a London-based psychedelic venture studio, closed $3.3M in a seed round from Satori Neuro, Evolve Ventures, and more.→ source

🍄 Norrsken Foundation, a Swedish nonprofit, launched Norrsken Mind, a €3M ($4.4M) initiative supporting startups around psychedelic-assisted therapy.→ source

🌿 Lucy Scientific Discovery, a psychotropic medicine developer, announced twin acquisitions of plant wellness portfolio BlueSky Wellness Inc. and cannabis media brand High Times.→ source, source

🤱 Mavida Health, a maternal mental health platform, secured $1.5M in pre-seed funding. → source

🏞️ Voiijer, a social media platform for explorers and nature-lovers, raised $1M from undisclosed investors.→ source

🧠 NeuroFlow, a digital health company focused on integrating behavioral health into all areas of care, received an undisclosed investment from Concord Health Partners. → source

🪑 Two Chairs, a modern behavioral healthcare company, introduced virtual and in-person bilingual therapy services in Florida for Spanish speakers.→ source

WHAT I’M READING

  • End-of-life mushroom trip. 64-year-old Tania Landauer has been living with a Stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis since 2018. To come to terms with her transition, Landauer embarked on a series of psychedelic journeys. → proto.life

  • Group therapy. Collective forms of psychoanalysis (as opposed to individual) has long been viewed as “implicitly less valuable” by the psychoanalytic establishment, writes Jess Cotton. Why is that so, and is it time that that changes? → aeon

All set! Thank you, as always, for following along. Oh, and check out this card I found in a boutique shop I popped into the other day.

See you next Sunday,

-Mel