Psilera Eyes Non-Hallucinogenic Drug Candidates for First-in-Human Studies

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Mar 30, 2023, 08:15 ET

TAMPA, Fla., March 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Psilera is proud to achieve a landmark preclinical milestone with 100% success. Its first cohort of drug candidates designed and synthesized in-house have all proven to lack hallucinations in animals. This group includes six patent-pending compounds with novel structural features across four compound families.

Along with being non-hallucinogenic, the drug candidates showed promise in a number of in vivo preclinical screenings alleviating mood disorders (i.e. depression and anxiety), improving learning and memory, and curbing alcohol addiction. This provides further evidence that therapeutic effects are not solely linked to hallucinations; similar neuroplasticity-inducing compounds have been referred to as "psychoplastogens."

Animal data generated from the first six compounds will inform lead selection for Psilera with first-in-human trials slated for 2024. The selection of a non-hallucinogenic drug offers greater benefit over first-generation psychedelics including patentability, take-home dosing, payer coverage, and greater accessibility for patients.

The Psilera Third Eye platform, in collaboration with its leading scientists, predicted these compounds to be therapeutic without hallucinations. Preclinical results have been used to train the platform and generate a new class of bespoke drug candidates. Provisional patents have been filed for this new compound class and early experimental data supports potent CNS receptor activity.

"We achieved our goal by building an extensive compound library to remove hallucinations as a side effect while retaining the effects we want," said Dr. Chris Witowski, Co-Founder and CEO of Psilera. "I am grateful for the efforts made by our team to conceive and execute across our pipeline in a short amount of time. We look forward to pushing our differentiated lead compound into the clinic with the potential to be a first-in-class medicine."

About Psilera:
Psilera leverages a world-class scientific and executive team to reimagine psychoactive natural products into effective and insurable take-home therapies. Their drug discovery engine combines novel syntheses of new compounds with a technology-enabled platform to design next-generation neurological drugs at the atomic level. The proprietary platform, Psilera Third Eye, harnesses machine learning to map complex datasets and identify lead non-hallucinogenic compounds while maintaining therapeutic benefits. Psilera's mission is to enhance the lives of patients by delivering new treatment options with fewer side effects in mental health and neurodegenerative disorders. Psilera is defining the new era in mindful medicine.

Media Contact:
Katie DeMarsh
[email protected]

Investor Contact:
Chris Witowski
[email protected]

SOURCE Psilera