Business Trip

What does it take for a traditional VC to fund a psychedelic company? In our latest episode, Matias takes us behind the scenes of a panel discussion at the Psychedelic Therapeutics & Drug Development Conference in San Francisco, CA. Matias talks with VCs at firms with $100M+ fund sizes: Anne Dwane, a partner at Village Global, Amanda Way, principal at Jazz Venture Partners and Dana Watt PhD, principal at Breakout Ventures.In this episode, we discuss: (1) How VCs identify and evaluate a strong founding team, (2) Evaluating scientific, technical, and market risk, (3) The pros and cons of platforms vs. asset companies, (4) How to position a psychedelic company in the broader biotech ecosystem.Credits: Created by Greg Kubin and Matias SerebrinskyHost: Matias Serebrinsky & Greg KubinProduced by Jonathan A. Davis,  Nico V. Rey & Caitlin NerFind us at businesstrip.fm and psymed.venturesFollow us on Instagram and Twitter!Theme music by Dorian LoveAdditional Music: Distant Daze by Zack Frank

In our latest episode, Greg and Matias engage in an insightful discussion with Dr. Bryan Roth, the Michael Hooker Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Medicine, and the founder of the Roth Lab.Dr. Roth’s lab is on the cutting edge of researching the interaction between brain cell receptors and compounds like LSD and psilocybin. Their findings have the potential to revolutionize the treatment of psychiatric disorders, potentially creating new forms of psychedelics that offer the therapeutic benefits without hallucinations or other side effects.In this episode, we discuss (1) the therapeutic effects of psychedelic and non-hallucinatory compounds, (2) the transition from animal model studies to human trials and (3) the journey of turning deep academic research into viable commercial entities.Credits: Created by Greg Kubin and Matias SerebrinskyHost: Matias Serebrinsky & Greg KubinProduced by Jonathan A. Davis,  Nico V. Rey & Caitlin NerFind us at businesstrip.fm and psymed.venturesFollow us on Instagram and Twitter!Theme music by Dorian LoveAdditional Music: Distant Daze by Zack Frank

Dive into the intriguing world of PsyMed Ventures as the hosts share their journey in building a mental health-focused venture capital fund. Discover the challenges of fundraising over $15 million in the psychedelic and neurotechnology sectors while emphasizing community engagement. Learn how radical ideas are becoming mainstream and their profound impact on healthcare. The importance of strategic partnerships and cultivating trust as emerging managers is highlighted. Transforming mental health through innovative investments is at the forefront of this compelling conversation.

Josh Hardman, founder of Psychedelic Alpha, delves into the evolving psychedelic industry landscape, job opportunities, challenges in fundraising, therapy protocols, investor sentiment, and the significance of reciprocity and collaboration in the industry.

In this week’s special episode, Matias chats with Dr. Rachel Yehuda and Zach Haigney at Soho House in New York City. This is part 2 of a moderated panel recorded in front of a live audience, with part 1 released in June 2022. Dr. Yehuda has spent the last 30 years doing research on PTSD and trauma and is leading the MDMA-assisted therapy research at the US Veterans Affairs Medical Center and serves as Director at the Mental Health at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center. She is also the Director of the Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital and Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience. Zach Haigney writes the Trip Report by Beckley Waves, a newsletter about the science, policy, and business of psychedelics.Credits: Created by Greg Kubin and Matias SerebrinskyHost: Matias Serebrinsky & Greg KubinProduced by Jonathan A. Davis,  Zack Frank, & Caitlin NerFind us at businesstrip.fmFollow us on Instagram and Twitter!Theme music by Dorian LoveAdditional Music: Distant Daze by Zack Frank

This podcast explores the development of new psychedelic compounds, the therapeutic potential of MDMA, and the challenges of running a psychedelic biotech company. It also discusses the potential applications and administration methods of psychedelic compounds, as well as initiatives to improve access to MDMA. Additionally, it delves into the rush of biotech companies going public and the concept of founder equity pledge in the psychedelic research field.

In this new episode of Business Trip, we interview one of the first clinics to offer a protocol that includes TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) and ketamine infusion.TMS is a non-invasive procedure that sends electric currents to specific regions in the brain, including areas linked to depression. It's FDA approved and has been gaining adoption as clinical studies demonstrate safety and efficacy in treating mood disorders.So why the combination? TMS takes a local approach while ketamine stimulates global brain communication, according to Scenic City Neurotherapy founder Charles Miller. There's little data about the combination of TMS with ketamine, making this conversation quite interesting as Miller shares the protocol, science, costs, and treatment outcomes.Credits: Created by Greg Kubin and Matias SerebrinskyHost:  Matias SerebrinskyProduced by Jonathan A. Davis & Zack FrankFind us at businesstrip.fmFollow us on Instagram and Twitter!Theme music by Dorian LoveAdditional Music:Distant Daze by Zack Frank

In this week's episode, we chat with Christian Angermayer. Christian co-founded atai Life Sciences and was an early investor in Compass Pathways -- two of the first companies commercializing psychedelic medicine. Christian also launched a fund dedicated to mental and neurological health called re:Mind, is an investor through his family office Apeiron, and co-founded two longevity biotech companies.Credits: Created by Greg Kubin and Matias SerebrinskyHost:  Greg Kubin and Matias SerebrinskyProduced by Jonathan A. Davis & Zack FrankFind us at businesstrip.fmFollow us on Instagram and Twitter!Theme music by Dorian LoveAdditional Music:Distant Daze by Zack Frank

In this week’s episode, we chat with Melissa Stangl, co-founder of Soltara Healing Center. Soltara is an ayahuasca retreat center whose ceremonies are lead by Shipibo healers, with locations in Peru and Costa Rica. The Shipibo people are from the Peruvian Amazon and are part of a tradition that has been drinking Ayahuasca for healing and spiritual purposes for thousands of years. In their ceremonies, the Shipibo serve ayahuasca and sing songs, called Icaros, which guide the healing process and journey.Credits: Created by Greg Kubin and Matias SerebrinskyHost:  Greg Kubin and Matias SerebrinskyProduced by Jonathan A. Davis & Zack FrankFind us at businesstrip.fmFollow us on Instagram and Twitter!Theme music by Dorian LoveAdditional Music:Distant Daze by Zack Frank

This is final episode in our 3-part series on microdosing that explores the science, history, and clinical applications. In this episode, we discuss the path to FDA approval for microdosing. We chat with the chief medical officers from Diamond Therapeutics and MindMed about their microdosing clinical programs. Diamond's program uses synthetic psilocybin and is focused on anxiety disorders. Meanwhile, MindMed is focused using low doses of LSD to treat adult ADHD.  Our guests are Dr. Michael McDonnell (Diamond Therapeutics) and Dr. Dan Karlin (MindMed).In case you missed it: In part 1, we interviewed psychedelic researcher James Fadiman about the fundamentals of microdosing. In part 2, we discuss placebo effect and the results of a self-blinded placebo-controlled study with Balázs Szigeti from the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London.Disclaimer: This is not investment advice and is for information and educational purposes only. Credits: Created by Greg Kubin and Matias SerebrinskyHost:  Greg Kubin and Matias SerebrinskyProduced by Jonathan A. Davis & Zack FrankFind us at businesstrip.fmFollow us on Instagram and Twitter!Theme music by Dorian LoveAdditional Music:Distant Daze by Zack Frank