The company is currently listed on Canada’s NEO exchange and has a market cap of $190 million. MindMed’s announcement comes just days after U.K.-based Compass Pathways, which has patented a synthetic form of psilocybin for use in treatment-resistant depression, went public on the Nasdaq.
Compass’ IPO is perhaps a bellwether signaling that some Wall Street investors are comfortable betting on drugs that are still federally illegal. The company’s stock jumped 71% in its first day of trading. As of Thursday, the stock was up 134% from its IPO price of $17 per share.
“Besides psychedelic medicines, there are very few transformative and new approaches to mental health,” says Rahn. “Institutional and Wall Street investors are recognizing that there needs to be novel approaches to these vast problems and if they are psychedelic medicines, so be it.”
A veritable who’s who of elite investors and donors are backing commercial and research endeavors. Hedge fund billionaire Steven Cohen, cofounder of Tao Capital and an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune Joby Pritzker, and Bob Parsons, the billionaire founder of GoDaddy and golf equipment manufacturer PXG, donated to MAPS. Billionaire Peter Thiel owns 7.54% of Compass Pathways while former billionaire Michael Novogratz also owns a stake. MindMed counts Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary and Toms Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie as investors.
“The world has changed and these substances are being shined upon by a substantially-different light,” says Rahn. “If the pill wasn’t called LSD or psilocybin and someone told you it had a pretty good chance of helping people with depression, addiction, or anxiety, do you care what the pill is called? Does it even matter?”
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