A psychedelic drug development company is taking on the opioid crisis. And they just landed a historic new grant to do it.

‍What’s happening:‍

• Psychedelic biotechnology company Gilgamesh has received a $14M USD grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to advance the clinical development of their novel cardiac-safe ibogaine analogue for the treatment of substance abuse disorders
  

Why it matters:‍

• Ibogaine has shown clinical validation as an effective therapeutic for dealing with drug addiction, however it has cardiovascular toxicity which has made it both dangerous and difficult to develop as a pharmaceutical
  
• Gilgamesh believes they have developed a potential breakthrough with their novel molecule GM-3009 which is cardiac-safe and has shown promising therapeutic potential for patients dealing with opioid addiction
  

By the numbers:‍

• Last year alone in the United States, over 100,000 individuals died from opioids
  

Going deeper:‍

• Psychedelic drug developers have recently been making big strides with regulators, as both MindMed (NASDAQ: MNMD) and Cynin (NYSE: CYBN) have recently received Breakthrough Therapy designations from the FDA
  
• The new grant funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse will be non-dilutive capital and will help advance clinical trials to further validate that GM-3009 eliminates the cardiovascular risks associated with ibogaine

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