A new partnership between a Danish and a British startup will lead the way for advancing patient access to medical psychedelics in Europe.
Copenhagen-based synthetic biology company, Octarine Bio, has entered into a partnership with UK-based Clerkenwell Health to advance patient access and quality of psychedelic medicine in Europe.
The partnership will see Octarine, which uses yeast fermentation to produce psilocybin from sugar, have access to services from Clerkenwell Health to expedite its clinical development with biosynthetic psilocybin, and expects to be able to fast-track steps leading to human clinical trials.
“It’s a real pleasure to be working with Octarine who are at the forefront of biosynthesis of a range of compounds which should enable reduced costs for patients. They have a strong pedigree in drug development which fits perfectly with the commercial and clinical expertise we have built within the Clerkenwell Health team,” commented Tom McDonald, Clerkenwell Health CEO.
A developing European ecosystem
Patients in clinical trials will soon be able to receive psilocybin that has been produced in European labs for various mental health conditions as collaborations are beginning to strengthen a commercial ecosystem for psychedelic drug development on the continent.
Clerkenwell Health, which will soon launch its research Centre of Excellence, is supporting this developing ecosystem both the UK and in Europe by providing clinical research support to drug developers, while Octarine is offering innovative methods for producing natural and novel psychedelic compounds. These methods address one of the key barriers to increasing the accessibility of psychedelic treatments which is the limitations associated with the production of the high-quality psychedelic compounds needed for clinical development.
The partnership between the two companies demonstrates that this ecosystem is beginning to form as both companies have received institutional and mainstream support, with Clerkenwell Health partnering with the University of Manchester and Octarine having received venture backing from the Danish State Growth Fund, and from institutional investors such as Oskare Capital and prominent angel investors such as Bruce Linton.
Octarine co-founder and CSO, Nick Milne PhD, added: “Our core ambition at Octarine is to advance psychedelic therapy across Europe and the world in a way that is consistent with sustainability principles while ensuring patient accessibility.
“We’re thrilled to be working with a company that shares our vision and is committed to making Europe a leader in the field by providing world-class clinical expertise tailored to the nuances of psychedelic therapy. We look forward to working closely with the Clerkenwell Health team to advance our psychedelic drug programs through clinical trials.”
Read more: Clerkenwell Health to research use of psilocybin in end-of-life support
Jo Neill, Professor of Psychopharmacology at the University of Manchester and Chair of Drug Science’s Medical Psychedelics Working Group, which will be exploring innovation within the psychedelic space, focusing on how psychedelics can be integrated into healthcare and raising awareness amongst policymakers in the UK to remove barriers to research following 50 years of censorship, has joined Octarine’s scientific advisory board.
Neill said: “I am delighted to have joined Octarine Bio’s scientific advisory board and to have Clerkenwell Health as part of the Drug Science working group. One of our key aims is to enable patients to access much needed psychedelic-assisted therapy and the new partnership between these two companies will be an important part of that process.”
