Small Pharma Inc. (TSXV: DMT | OTCQB: DMTTF), a biotechnology company focused on short-acting psychedelic-assisted therapies for mental health conditions, today announces that it will provide its drug candidate SPL026, an intravenous formulation of the psychedelic drug N, N-dimethyltryptamine, to support a University College London led study investigating induced brain changes and neuroplasticity following intravenous DMT.
The Understanding Neuroplasticity Induced by Tryptamines (UNITy) Project (the “UNITy Project”) is a longitudinal brain-imaging study being conducted by the UCL department of Psychology and Language Science, which seeks to provide a mechanistic understanding of how DMT impacts brain function, behaviour and well-being. The UNITy Project will use Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to image the brain before, during and after a DMT or placebo infusion. Follow-ups with study participants will occur for up to nine months.
Dr. Ravi Das, Associate Professor at University College London and Principal Investigator on the UNITy Project, said: “We are grateful that Small Pharma is providing its drug candidate, SPL026, to the UNITy Project. There is an urgent need for new, effective and lasting mental health treatments. While previous clinical research into psychedelics has been promising, there is a lack of mechanism-focused, well-controlled research into how, why and in whom these drugs work. We expect that this project will take major steps forward in progressing our understanding of how DMT affects the brain and behaviour.”
“Driving forward scientific research and excellence is really important to Small Pharma, so we are delighted to support UCL on this large-scale neuroimaging study. We hope the findings will provide us with an increased understanding of the mechanistic effects of DMT in the brain, as well as which patient populations could benefit most from DMT-based therapies.”
Dr. Carol Routledge, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer at Small Pharma
About Small Pharma
Small Pharma is a biotechnology company progressing a pipeline of short-acting psychedelic assisted therapies for the treatment of mental health conditions. The Company’s current focus is on exploring new therapeutic approaches for depression. Small Pharma’s lead candidate, SPL026, is a proprietary synthetic formulation of DMT. The Company is advancing a clinical program of intravenous SPL026 with supportive therapy for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder, which was granted an Innovation Passport designation from the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. In addition, Small Pharma has a pipeline of proprietary preclinical assets in development.