Psychedelic biotech company MindMed is set to acquire research focused digital health company HealthMode for roughly $32.2 million (CAD $41M).  

HealthMode works with researchers and institutions to help digitize studies by using an artificial intelligence-enabled platform that can capture patient data and synthesize information.

According to its website, the company is able to model disease trajectories, predict prognoses and detect any clinical changes.

This acquisition comes after MindMed purchased the issuance of 82,508 multiple voting shares of MindMed. The company also announced that HealthMode’s founder and former CEO Dr. Dan Karlin will be jumping over to the MindMed team as its chief medical officer.

WHY IT MATTERS

As part of the deal, MindMed will have access to HealthMode’s clinical trial platform and staff of 24.

The plan is for MindMed to integrate HealthMode into its new digital medicine division, which will include a digital mental health platform that can help clients commercialize psychedelic therapies and medicines.

“Our mission is to make MindMed as much a digital medicine company as a drug development company,” MindMed cofounder and CEO J.R. Rahn, said in a statement.  “With the addition of Dan and Bradford's team of engineers and product experts, our digital medicine division, Albert, is now the Special Ops of digital medicine, applying machine learning to drug development and patient care.

"The future of modern mental healthcare and psychedelic medicine ultimately will rely on improving infrequent, self-reported and observed measures for mental health to a paradigm where the continual digital measurement of our mind and body is as vital as the drug treatment itself."

THE LARGER TREND

Research into using psychedelics to treat mental illness is growing. For example, the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research launched in January of 2020 fueled by $17 million in funding.

Historically, researchers have faced several legal barriers to using psychedelics in research. However, things are changing. The FDA granted MDMA and psilocybin “breakthrough therapy status.”

Things sped up again in 2020 Oregon became the first state to legalize the use of psilocybin for mental health treatment and decriminalize the possession of all illegal drugs.

As interest around these substances increases, more companies are turning to the digital space to enable research. Canadian startup Mind Cure released a new digital therapeutic to close the gap between patients, caregivers and researchers. The tool specifically works to help psychedelic therapeutic research.