EPISODE #158 Psychedelics: The Investment Case with Jaspreet Grewal, Mitchell Osak, & Dr Steve Hajioff - Show Notes

This week, we’re joined by Jaspreet Grewal, Mitchell Osak, & Steve Hajioff - three subject matter specialists within the psychedelics space.

In this special panel episode, we explore the emergence (and re-emergence) of therapeutic psychedelics, including examining the substances which have gained early traction, the investment case for them, and the challenges and opportunities of this new sector.

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About Mitchell Osak - Independent Cannabis and Psychedelic Industry Consultant

Mitchell Osak is globally recognized as a leading advisor and commentator on the psychedelics and cannabis industries. He has consulted to over 230 companies on their go to market, capital markets, sales & marketing and organizational build-out strategies and plans. Mitchell is a published author who speaks/comments regularly in the mainstream and trade media on industry trends & developments, best practices and clinical considerations. His varied CPG and Pharma leadership and consulting background includes stints at P&G, Merck, Pfizer, IBM, CIBC Mellon and Rogers. Mitchell received his MBA from the University of Toronto.

About Jaspreet Grewal - Chief Executive Officer And Co-Founder of Knowde Group

Jaspreet Grewal (She/Her) is an accomplished clinician and researcher bringing nearly 20 years of experience to companies focused on medical cannabis and life sciences. Throughout her career, she has held various positions with increasing responsibilities in a variety of healthcare roles resulting in a broad skill set and robust healthcare and investment network while working in Canada, US, UK and Bermuda.

Jaspreet holds a Masters in Clinical Vision Sciences from Georgetown University, an Executive Certificate in Public Health from Harvard University and an Executive MBA from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research interests have focused on Phase I through IV drug and device trials within ophthalmology, paediatrics, medical cannabis, natural health products, gastroenterology, pain and rehabilitation. She became CCRP certified in 2012 and is an active speaker at many research and regulatory conferences locally and internationally.

In addition to her role as CEO at Knowde Group, Jaspreet is a Board Director with BioAlberta, Entrepreneur in Residence at Innovate Calgary (Medical Cannabis and Regulatory), Global Life Sciences Consultant with Calgary Economic Development, External Advisor to the Vi Riddell Pain & Rehabilitation Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital, and CEO of Venn Consulting, her Life Sciences Management Consulting firm.

About Dr Steve Hajioff - Scientific Advisor and Chief Medical Officer

Steve is an experienced clinician with a track record of innovation and thought leadership; particularly in the fields of clinical data science, healthcare technology market access, public health and health policy. He has extensive board-level experience in a variety of organisations and is experienced in budget setting, budget holding and financial oversight as well as overall leadership and managing complex and diverse teams. Steve has extensive experience acting as a representative and brand ambassador for large organisations and has worked a great deal with the press and broadcast media. He has worked locally, nationally and internationally within the public, private and voluntary sectors and in broad partnership arrangements.

Episode Summary

• Jaspreet is the co-founder and CEO of Knowde Group, which is a life science, clinical research organisation and hybrid consultancy. Knowde Group helps early biotech and emerging biotech companies navigate the path of clinical trials and commercialization in difficult areas, including cannabis and psychedelics.
• Steve, who is former Chairman of the British Medical Association has been the chief medical officer of numerous enterprises, from kitchen table startups to multimillion-dollar businesses. He provides clinical advice and guidance and is also involved in risk and financial planning.?
• Mitchell is an independent consultant and board member, both in the psychedelics and cannabis industry and has worked with other 200 companies developing their strategy, and organisational scale-out as well as working with them on raising money and dealing with capital market challenges.
• Psychedelic medicine is not new, it's been around for many thousands of years in many indigenous cultures, and modern psychedelic compounds have been more formally studied, since the 1940s for a variety of mental health conditions.
• Ketamine or S-Ketamine has been a drug of interest for the past decade and has been primarily used within the area of depression.
• It is a proven therapy for treatment-resistant depression and anxiety disorders, substance abuse, addiction, as well as other psychiatric conditions like eating disorders.
• In some countries, it is even a first-line treatment.
• The frontrunners within the psychedelic industry at the moment are ketamine, psilocybin and MDMA, with Ayahuasca and DMT also gaining traction.
• Psychedelics work by sending signals to different neurotransmitters to create sensations or thoughts. Psychedelics can disrupt unhealthy brain rhythms which can then be rebuilt correctly through psychological interventions.
• Although they can be used positively within a mental health setting, they do come with some side effects such as joint inflammation, hormone disruption and increasing blood pressure. The full side effect profile is not currently known.
• Psychedelics are offered as a service in the Canadian market, including guided tours through psychotherapy using psychedelic compounds.
• This has birthed a diverse ancillary industry with apps, digital technology, extraction and logistics etc.
• These businesses are in their very early stages, many of them are raising capital in the form of a seed round to fuel their ventures.
• Although psychedelics have been used recreationally for decades, there is still little evidence for their use within a medical setting.
• Many research institutions around the world are currently performing clinical studies on psychedelics including Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies in The USA, Mount Sinai in New York, John Hopkins University in Maryland, and Imperial College in London.
• The long term profitability of the use of psychedelics within a medical setting is still to be determined as there are many factors that need to be taken into account. Some of these include scalability, the use of telehealth, standardisation of compounds, and the cost of therapists.
• Mitchell predicts that long term, we will see a variety of technology fuelled business models operating within this market.
• Jaspreet is concerned about the scalability of the current model of care which is labour intensive and requires multiple trained and licensed medical professionals to facilitate. This also brings up accessibility issues.
• MDMA has shown significant potential to be used as a therapy for PTSD, a common debilitating condition which there are not currently adequate treatments for.
• It is important to remember that we are still very early on in the game and looking still at very isolated conditions and very small populations.
• Microdosing of psychedelics has become popular recently, although there is a lack of real-world evidence to support this method. A recent meta-analysis of clinical studies showed that microdosing while smaller doses were more efficacious, to an extent the therapeutic efficacy increased exponentially.
• Adjacent to the medical market lies the highly debated wellness market, where there are already many companies operating, these companies often offer functional mushrooms and nootropics, claiming to enhance cognition.?
• Investments within this space are flowing into clinical trials and biotech companies, which are fuelled by venture capitalists, private equity and hedge funds.

Quotables

[Psilocybin] can't be viewed as a miracle drug for everybody. I think that's really what it comes down to. We have to be very pragmatic that it's still an investigational compound. - Jaspreet

Resources

Connect with Steve on Linkedin: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/stevehajioff/?originalSubdomain=uk

Connect with Jaspreet on Linkedin: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/jkgrewal/

Connect with Mitchell on Linkedin: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/mitchellosak/

About Me

I'm?Anuj Desai - a commercial advisor, lawyer and founder of Canverse - a strategic consultancy helping founders, entrepreneurs and businesses navigate the emerging cannabis industry.

Please follow?The Cannabis Conversation to keep up to date with news and insights from the industry, and get in touch at [email protected] to discuss how I can help your business move forward in the cannabis sector!

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