OXFORD, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Beckley Psytech Limited, a private company dedicated to addressing neurological and psychiatric disorders through the novel application of psychedelic medicines, and Lophora ApS, a drug discovery company working in the CNS arena, today announced the companies have entered into a research and development collaboration. Under the terms of the agreement Beckley Psytech will jointly fund continuing development of the Lophora pipeline and collaborate broadly on R&D.
Founded in 2018 by University of Copenhagen’s Medicinal Chemistry Professor, Jesper Kristensen, Lophora is a highly regarded biotechnology company, based in Denmark, focused on the development of proprietary NCEs for treatment-resistant depression, and potential further indications including the treatment of anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse. Lophora has previously secured grant funding from the BioInovation Institute (Novo Nordisk Foundation) and continues to characterise its lead candidates, aiming to initiate clinical trials in 2023.
Cosmo Feilding Mellen, CEO of Beckley Psytech, said: “The Lophora partnership represents a significant milestone for Beckley Psytech. It brings access to NCEs that we can take into Phase 1 studies in the near term, coupled with access to a drug discovery pipeline that we can shape together as our experience ever deepens in the psychedelic drug development space. Beckley Psytech has been working diligently to build a first-class drug development capability. This partnership is hugely exciting for us as we look to develop a portfolio of clinical assets that provide solutions to the devastating effect of psychiatric and neurological disorders.”
Jesper Langgaard Kristensen, CSO of Lophora, commented: “Building on more than a decade's worth of academic drug discovery, Lophora has unlocked the door to rational design of powerful new drugs to treat some of the most intractable CNS disorders, developing a countless array of new compounds that could serve as starting points for novel psychedelic medicines. Bringing together our vast portfolio of new proprietary ligands with Beckley Psytech’s clinical capabilities brings obvious synergies. We share Beckley Psytech’s vision of developing psychedelic compounds to address the significant unmet need in psychiatric and neurological disorders, and we look forward to enriching the pipeline with medicines that will make a difference.”
Beckley Psytech – www.beckleypsytech.com
Beckley Psytech is a clinical stage privately held company dedicated to helping patients suffering from neurological and psychiatric disorders by developing a broad pipeline of psychedelic compounds in rare and more common diseases. Our vision is for clinically validated psychedelic medicines to be integrated into modern medical practice in order to help patients with high unmet medical need around the world, suffering from Short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks (SUNHA), treatment resistant depression and other profoundly debilitating conditions. Beckley Psytech was founded in 2019 leveraging some of the expertise developed over more than 20 years by the Beckley Foundation, an independent non-profit and world leader in psychedelic medicine research, and is based out of Oxford, United Kingdom.
Lophora – www.lophora.com
Lophora is a drug-development company founded in 2018 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The company has identified and patented a new class of proprietary ligands that has a similar pharmacological profile as psilocybin, but with superior selectivity and shorter duration. Lophora has successfully finished initial characterization of its lead-candidate LPH-5 and is currently bringing LPH-5 and a follow-up candidate through pre-clinical development. Lophora expects LPH-5 to be IND ready in Q4 2022 and plans to begin first-in-human trials in 2023.
