VANCOUVER, B.C.—Havn Life Sciences Inc., a company that describes itself as “focused on unlocking human potential using evidence-informed research and developing standardized psychoactive compounds derived from plants and fungi,” has announced its support for a study on depression and psilocybin with the MIND Foundation.
“Like us, the MIND Foundation is focused on contributing to education and to the normalization of psychedelics,” said Tim Moore, chief executive officer of Havn Life Sciences. “This psilocybin study in Europe will add to the global body of research, which is an essential part of moving this industry forward and developing a new generation of medicine. The Havn Life team intends to continue to identify research that’s being conducted around the world, the company believes it’s paramount to support research as the industry evolves.”
Havn Life will be donating $20,000 to support this research, which will be the first psilocybin depression study in Germany since the 1970s.
The MIND Foundation is a Berlin-based nonprofit that promotes psychedelic research, as well as educating professionals and the public about psychedelic treatments, integration, evidence-based harm reduction and human development. The foundation works to build on the neurobiological and psychological potential of psychedelics to improve mental health and well-being in clinical settings.
The psilocybin depression study is being led by principal investigator Prof. Gerhard Gründer, head of the Molecular Neuroimaging Department at the Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim. The study aims to investigate the safety and efficacy of psilocybin administered under supportive conditions in a controlled, randomized, double-blind design.
“Such a study can pave the way for future Phase 3 studies and regulatory approval of this drug for standard treatment,” Gründer noted.
Gründer is currently the only researcher in Germany who is planning clinical research with psychedelics. He is a leading expert in his field, with a background of 30 years of psychiatric research on mental health disorders and addiction.
For this study, Gründer is working with groups from the Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim and the MIND Foundation, which has a team of scientists from around the world on its advisory board. The researchers expect the study to be approved within the next month by the ethics committee and the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices in Germany.
