What is Psilera?
Psilera is a biotechnology company solving challenges with classic psychedelic compounds by optimizing dose via formulation and reducing off target effects (cardiotoxicity, hallucinations, etc) to increase scalability and patient access to those suffering from PTSD, mood and substance use disorders.
Current industry landscape
There is a “mush rush,” or glut of companies starting in the last two years for those starting companies focused on psilocybin from mushrooms (hence the mush rush) and other related compounds. Currently, MDMA (aka ecstasy) is in phase III trials for PTSD and has been shown to induce remission of PTSD symptoms for over a year after 2-3 doses. Similarly, psilocybin shows promise in helping those with treatment-resistant depression. In the next few years, these drugs will likely be approved by the FDA leading to further destigmatization of mental health and should provide new options for devastating diseases which have lacked adequate therapies. There are many efforts to develop new therapy protocols, formulations, compounds, retreats, and consumer packaged goods based upon psychedelics.
The founding of Psilera
Psilera was founded by two PhD natural product chemists in July 2019. Having witnessed the cannabis industry first-hand, the founders realized the potential of psychedelics to treat mental health disorders. After reading many research articles, briefing documents, and patents Drs. von Salm and Witowski decided to take the leap into entrepreneurship. A sizable dose of DMT also served as a catalyst!
The company mission
The mission of Psilera is to reimagine psychoactive natural products and transform these into next-generation therapies to treat mood, cognitive, and substance use disorders. They are developing non-hallucinogenic derivatives of psychedelic compounds and outpatient delivery methods which harness the beneficial therapeutic properties and increase treatment scalability. Their virtual screening platform, BRAIN, allows for rapid analysis to improve the safety profile and predict biological outcomes for new psychedelic compounds. Their research focus on DMT, a natural psychedelic compound produced in animals and humans, afforded us the 2021 DMT Company of the Year.
About the team
The Psilera team is diverse (female founded and 80% female team) and has a heavy scientific background with over 80% holding a Masters or PhD degree. They are passionate about their research and enthusiastic about the future of psychedelic compounds.
Check them out: https://www.psilera.com/
Follow them on social:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/psilera_inc/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/psilera
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/psilera