Psilera Raises $2.5M in Seed Funding

Psilera Inc., formerly Psilera Bioscience, a Tampa, FLA.-based biotechnology company specializing in the clinical development of psychedelics and analogues, raised $2.5m in seed funding.

The round was led by Iter Investments with participation from Baird, Inc., JLS Fund, Receptor, What If Ventures, as well as the company’s Founders and Board of Directors.

The company intends to use the funds for key scientific and clinical personnel hires, research, and general working purposes.

Led by Dr. Chris Witowski, Co-Founder and CEO, Psilera Bioscience is a psychedelic-based biotechnology company developing its proprietary neuromodulator pipeline to target central nervous system disorders. The company leverages research with executives from the pharmaceutical and cannabis industries to repurpose psychoactive natural products like DMT to create therapies to improve mental health in the areas of mood, cognitive, and substance use disorders.

In addition to working on new chemical entities, Psilera previously announced receiving DEA-approval to research N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), psilocybin, and psilocin with a major focus on patient-friendly administration types. The company has developed a patent-pending DMT transdermal patch to be assessed in a Phase 1b clinical trial with an investigational new drug (IND) filing anticipated in H2 2021. Transdermal administration can deliver drugs directly into the bloodstream and reduce DMT metabolism while providing steady, low-dose therapies.

Psilera’s other research objectives include preclinical animal testing of its new chemical entities (NCEs) set to begin in Q3 2021. The company continues to build valuable intellectual property (IP) with its Bio-Receptor Activity Intelligence Network (BRAIN) spearheaded by Drs. Jackie von Salm and Bryce Allen, a proprietary dataset to identify NCEs with modified psychedelic and therapeutic effects.

FinSMEs

02/07/2021