COMPASS Pathways plc (Nasdaq: CMPS), a mental health care company dedicated to accelerating patient access to evidence-based innovation in mental health, announced that it has acquired an intellectual property (IP) portfolio including patent applications covering a variety of psychedelic and empathogenic substances. The IP was developed together with inventor Matthias Grill PhD, founder and CEO of MiHKAL GmbH in Basel, Switzerland, who will be working with COMPASS on an exclusive research project to develop new product candidates.

The substances covered in the IP portfolio include a variety of psychedelic and empathogenic compounds, some of which are prodrugs – pharmacologically inactive compounds which are metabolised inside the body to produce an active drug. The new substances include novel derivatives of known compounds, increasing the confidence in therapeutic effects and safety profile while offering optimised characteristics.

Dr Matthias Grill has been involved in psychedelic chemistry research for over 15 years, gaining his PhD at the Max Planck Institute. He has held positions as Head of R&D at Arbolea GmbH, Lipomed AG and THC Pharm GmbH, and has synthesised psychedelic substances for a number of human research studies, including at the University of Basel and the National Institute of Mental Health in the Czech Republic.

“Chemistry still happens inside the flask and not on paper. Inspired by the work of chemists like Albert Hofmann and Alexander Shulgin, I am proud to be developing these evolved compounds in Switzerland, where many of the initial psychedelics were first researched and synthesised. We are creating novel candidates to address many of the mental health challenges we face today.”

Dr Matthias Grill

Lars Wilde, Chief Business Officer, President and Co-founder, COMPASS Pathways, said: “We are delighted to be working with Matthias and MiHKAL GmbH. This agreement will strengthen and expand our IP and development portfolio with new compounds. We plan to move some of these compounds into clinical development within the next two years, taking us closer to our goal of helping patients with urgent unmet needs in mental health care.”

About COMPASS Pathways

COMPASS Pathways plc (Nasdaq: CMPS) is a mental health care company dedicated to accelerating patient access to evidence-based innovation in mental health. Our focus is on improving the lives of those who are suffering with mental health challenges and who are not helped by current treatments. We are pioneering the development of a new model of psilocybin therapy, in which our proprietary formulation of synthetic psilocybin, COMP360, is administered in conjunction with psychological support. COMP360 has been designated a Breakthrough Therapy by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), and we are currently conducting a phase IIb clinical trial of psilocybin therapy for TRD, in 22 sites across Europe and North America. We are headquartered in London, UK, with offices in New York, US. Our vision is a world of mental wellbeing. www.compasspathways.com