John Hopkins professor and psychedelics expert Matthew Johnson to act as senior advisor to committee
NEW YORK , March 12, 2020 — Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. (“MindMed”) has formed a Technology Evaluation, Acquisition and Scientific Integrity Board Committee to identify and expand the company’s clinical trial pipeline and IP portfolio of psychedelics. The committee will be advised by Johns Hopkins Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Matthew Johnson, Ph.D. Professor Johnson is a renowned expert on psychedelics and addiction. He will act as both a senior advisor to the newly formed committee and will also join the company’s existing Scientific Advisory Board. In addition, pharma industry veteran and skilled psychiatry clinician Dr. Miri Halperin Wernli , who recently joined the board of directors and will be the chair of the board committee, will also act as senior advisor for MindMed’s clinical trials.
“We feel it is important to establish a world class team of experts to advise on the scientific merit and medical capabilities of our future acquisitions and pipeline,” said MindMed Founder and Co-CEO JR Rahn. “Professor Johnson and Dr. Halperin Wernli will be integral advisors to us as we evaluate new opportunities and build the most compelling clinical trial pipeline for psychedelics.”
Professor Matthew Johnson added: “MindMed is poised to make important advances in mental health treatment by developing psychedelic-based medicines. MindMed understands that meaningful and sustainable advances will be made when academics partner with industry to safely and responsibly shepherd these medicines through the approved medical regulatory process.”
With society facing huge challenges with anxiety, suicide and addictions, MindMed is aiming to use psychedelics to treat various mental disorders and provide an opportunity to discover the basic neuroscience of how these drugs really affect brain activity. MindMed aims to develop medicines derived from psychedelics to address significant unmet medical needs.
Dr. Miri Halperin Wernli said: “Psychiatry is in desperate need of fundamental mechanistic advances and MindMed is in the best position to bring the change needed. MindMed is well positioned to develop, scale, and deploy psychedelic-based medicines for the treatment of intractable mental health disorders. Their focus on, and partnerships with, academia is a key to this solid foundation and potential.”
The Technology Evaluation, Acquisition and Scientific Integrity Board Committee is expected to be composed of the following MindMed board members: Executive Chairman & Co-CEO Stephen Hurst , Board Director & Senior Advisor Miri Halperin Wernli, and Director & Co-CEO JR Rahn.
About Professor Matthew Johnson , Ph.D.
Matthew W. Johnson , Ph.D., Professor at Johns Hopkins , is an expert on psychedelics, other drugs, and addiction. Working with psychedelics for 16 years, he has published approximately 50 scientific papers on psychedelics. Matt published psychedelic safety guidelines in 2008, helping to resurrect psychedelic research. He published the first research on psychedelic treatment of tobacco addiction in 2014, and the largest study of psilocybin in cancer distress in 2016. His 2018 psilocybin review recommended Schedule IV upon medical approval. He has guided >100 psychedelic sessions. Matt also conducts behavioral economic research on both addiction and sexual risk. He conducts research with most psychoactive drug classes, was 2018 President of the Psychopharmacology Division of the American Psychological Association, and is current President of the International Society for Research on Psychedelics. Interviewed by: 60 Minutes (CBS News), New York Times , Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, BBC, CNN, Fox Business News, NPR, and Michael Pollan .
About Dr. Miri Halperin Wernli
Dr. Halperin Wernli is a senior pharmaceutical and biomedical executive with over 30 years of strategic and operational leadership in the biopharmaceutical industry. Dr. Halperin Wernli previously worked in clinical psychiatry in Swiss academic hospital settings and then held various global senior leadership positions in the pharma and biotech industries in Switzerland and in the US (Merck, Sharp and Dohme, Roche and Actelion pharmaceuticals) covering Product Development, R&D, and Strategic Marketing. Dr. Halperin Wernli is a skilled clinician in child and adult psychiatry and an experienced Pharmaceutical leader with skills and broad expertise in Drug Development, Regulatory Affairs, Project & Portfolio Management, Development Finance & Controlling, and Corporate Strategy and Governance. Dr. Halperin Wernli currently serves as CEO of Creso Pharma, a listed cannabis company focused on GMP Development and product registrations.
About MindMed
Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. is a neuro-pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and deploys psychedelic inspired medicines to improve health, promote wellness and alleviate suffering. The company’s immediate priority is to address the opioid crisis by developing a non-hallucinogenic version of the psychedelic ibogaine. In addition, the company has established a microdosing division to conduct clinical trials of LSD microdosing for Adult ADHD. The MindMed executive team brings extensive biopharmaceutical industry experience to this groundbreaking approach to the development of next-generation psychedelic medicines.
For more information: www.mindmed.co.
MindMed trades on the NEO Exchange under the symbol MMED. MindMed can also be traded in the US under the symbol OTC: MMEDF and in Germany under the symbol DE:BGHM.
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