Bright Minds Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: DRUG) is a biotechnology company focused on developing novel therapies for neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, such as healing the central nervous system and brain through the regulation of serotonin. I usually wait until the end of a piece to put up corporate assets, but given that some may find the Company a bit complex—pshaw—this is for you: Here are the DRUGS Company Presentations. As you may have surmised, this initial piece gives you time and resources to review/DD DRUG (The best symbol. Ever).
· Bright Minds Biosciences announces a Phase 2 Clinical trial to evaluate BMB-101 in a group of drug-resistant epilepsy disorders with high unmet needs.
· BMB-101 is a novel, highly selective 5-HT2C agonist. Its G-protein-biased agonism provides an improved mechanism of action for chronic dosing.
- Financial runway extending into 2026, enabling pivotal data readout
- Conference call & KOL Event – will be held as a webcast on September 25th at 10:00 ET
Ian McDonald, Chief Executive Officer of Bright Minds Biosciences, notes, “This compound is not only poised to make a significant impact in both the DEE and Absence Epilepsy communities but also has broad applicability across the 30% of all epilepsy patients who experience drug resistance.” The key phrase in that quote is the 30% of epilepsy patients who are drug resistant.
What maladies does DRUG address? The main area is the unmet needs of epilepsy disorders. Globally, an estimated 5 million people are diagnosed with epilepsy each year. In high-income countries, there are estimated to be 49 per 100,000 people diagnosed with epilepsy each year. This figure can be as high as 139 per 100,000 in low- and middle-income countries.
Two other areas are DRUG’s flagship drug, BMB-101, and its proprietary drug scaffold. Scaffolds are implants commonly used to deliver cells, drugs, and genes into the body. Their regular porous structure ensures the proper support for cell attachment, proliferation, differentiated function, and migration. Another definition: Scaffold-mediated drug delivery systems offer a novel approach to wound healing by providing a platform for the controlled release of therapeutic agents directly at the wound site.
Hallucinogenic: reset the functional connectivity of brain circuits known to play a critical role in major depressive disorder (MDD) by its action on the 5-HT2A receptors. The Company is working to deal with the side effects of these therapies.
Scaffolds can be used for various tissue engineering purposes, e.g. bone formation, periodontal regeneration, cartilage development, artificial corneas, heart valves, tendon repair, or ligament replacement. Moreover, they are also instrumental in cancer therapy, inflammation, diabetes, heart disease, and wound dressings. Scaffolds provide a platform to extend the delivery of drugs and genetic materials at a controlled timeframe, besides potentially being used to prevent infection upon surgery and other chronic diseases. DRUG recently announced the initiation of the BREAKTHROUGH Study, an open-label Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of BMB-101–a highly selective 5-HT2C receptor agonist–, in adult patients with classic Absence Epilepsy and Developmental Epileptic Encephalopathy (DEE). No worries, I got you.
AGONIST: A drug or substance that binds to a receptor inside a cell or on its surface and causes the same action as the substance that usually binds to the receptor.
5-HT2C: Serotonin (5-HT)2C receptors play an important role in modulating monoaminergic transmission, mood, motor behaviour, appetite, and endocrine secretion, and alterations in their functional status have been detected in antidepressive states.
Impress your friends: Agonists are drugs or naturally occurring substances that activate physiologic receptors, whereas antagonists block those receptors.
Once you get a bit deeper, it’s all quite straightforward. And the potential is, well, staggering.
DRUG’s pipeline addresses rare epilepsy—as we said above–as well as obesity and feeding behaviours. Treatment-resistant depression, as well as other types of depression.
· MDD (Major depressive disorder) is a common (7.1% of all US adults; globally 264 million patients per WHO) highly disabling and stigmatized condition. It is often kept secret by patients.
· a host of other behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are exhibited by patients suffering from various forms of dementia
· compounds in development for the treatment of binge eating disorders and substance abuse disorders such as opiate abuse, cocaine abuse and smoking.
· Bright Minds Bioscience’s portfolio of 5-HT2C agonists eventually has the potential to treat dementia and Parkinson’s Disease patients without the accompanying side effects on blood pressure and sleep.
Bottom Line
Once investors grasp the science, which is basically in developing therapies for the above afflictions, there should be a small hopscotch to the biotech’s potential. On a personal note, I have Absence Epilepsy with a couple of minor physiological twists. Most epilepsies have subtleties that result in those versions currently untreatable. The growth of this affliction, plus the others that Bright Minds tech addresses, the growth will come as the drugs/therapies get approvedapproved or complementary efficacies are delivered.
Bob Beaty
For over 30 years, Bob Beaty has been explaining concepts and companies to the global investment community. One of the original writers for Jim Cramer’s Thestreet.com, he also wrote for AOL (Can/US), the Globe and Mail, and the Huffington Post. Over that period, he illuminated small-cap companies to investors with wit and pith but mostly opinion and facts. Investing should be fun. Pedantic, staid content is no fun.
Before embarking on his writing career, Bob had a successful international journey in the finance industry. He served as a broker, derivatives product manager, and a Director of London's Credit Suisse subsidiary. His career spanned across major financial hubs including Toronto, Vancouver, and the UK, giving him a unique global perspective. (He is still fondly remembering those English client lunches.)
Other than everything Groucho Marx and George Carlin ever said, Bob lives by a simple credo;
‘Never do anything the person standing in front of you can't understand.’ Hunter S. Thompson.
Let’s go.
