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spk08: Good afternoon and welcome to MindMedicine fourth quarter and full year 2022 financial results and corporate update conference call. Currently, all participants are in a listen-only mode. This call is being webcast live on the investors and media section of MindMed's website at mindmed.co and the recording will be available after the call. For opening remarks, I would like to introduce Rob Barrow, CEO of MindMed. Please go ahead.
spk05: Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to our fourth quarter and full year 2022 financial results and corporate update conference call. The press release reporting our financial results is available in the investors and media section of MyMed's website, and our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31st, 2022 will be filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Joining me today is Sean Greenway, our CFO, Dr. Dan Carlin, our Chief Medical Officer, and Dr. Mary Halperin-Wernley, our Executive President. During today's call, we will be making forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements about potential, safety, efficacy, and regulatory and clinical progress of our product candidates, financial projections, and our future expectations, plans, partnerships, and prospects. These statements are subject to various risks that are described in the filings made with the SEC, including the most recent annual report on Form 10-K. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are made as of today, March 9, 2023. MindMed disclaims any obligation to update such statements, even if management views change. We are extremely pleased with the progress and transformational growth that propelled our business forward over the past year. And with our strong financial position and cash runway into the first half of 2025, we are well positioned to execute on our corporate objectives and to reach multiple value-driving milestones. This year, we expect key data results from our Phase IIb trial of MM120 for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, as well as from our Phase IIa proof-of-concept trial of repeated low-dose MM120, an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Additionally, we expect to present preclinical efficacy data on MM402 in a model of autism spectrum disorder in the first half of 2023, and to initiate our first clinical trial of MM402 later in the year. Before we dive further into our R&D and financial updates, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the extraordinary evolution that we have completed at MindMed over the past year. We have been able to attract high caliber individuals with deep experience in the pharmaceutical industry, to join our management team, such as Sean Greenway, our CFO, Dr. Francois Lilienthal as our Chief Commercial Officer, Dr. Rob Silva as our VP of Clinical, and Bridget Walton as our VP of Global Regulatory Affairs. We have also made significant changes to strengthen our board of directors, including with the addition of Dr. Suzanne Bruhn and Dr. Roger Crystal late last year. Besides personnel changes, we have also streamlined our pipeline focusing our resources on the programs where we think we have the best chance to deliver novel treatment options to address major unmet medical needs. It is important to add that at every turn, the executives and board members of MindMed remain steadfastly committed to our mission, pursuing a course that represents the long-term interests of our shareholders and of the patients we seek to help. Our employees work tirelessly toward our mission, and I believe we have one of the most talented, nimble, and efficient organizations in our industry. I continue to be amazed by the dedication of our team, and I am confident that over the course of the coming year, our approach and execution will stand unmatched as demonstrated by the efficiency of our progress, the thoughtfulness and conviction of our scientific approach, and the continued adherence to our mission. We remain deeply committed to advancing our organization and delivering new, life-changing treatment options to the many patients living with brain health disorders. I'll now turn to updates on our R&D programs, starting with our lead program, MM120. MM120 is a proprietary, pharmaceutically optimized form of lysogide D-tartrate that we are developing for the treatment of GAD and ADHD. GAD is an often debilitating mental health disorder that affects approximately 6% of U.S. adults in their lifetimes, but there has been very little innovation focused on the treatment of GAD over the past several decades. Symptoms of GAD include excessive anxiety and persistent worry, which can lead to significant impairment in social, occupational, and other functioning. In August 2022, we initiated patient dosing for our Phase 2B trial of MM120 and GAD. Enrollment is currently underway with 20 active sites, and top-line results are expected later this year. The trial plans to enroll a total of 200 participants, who will receive a single administration of up to 200 micrograms of MM120 or placebo. The primary objective of this study is to determine the reduction in anxiety symptoms for up to 12 weeks after a single administration of MM120 across the five treatment arms, with a primary endpoint measured at four weeks post-dosing. The results of this trial will guide the dose selection and development strategy for MM120 and GAP. as well as deepen our scientific understanding of its clinical effects and its underlying functional mechanisms of action. We are also evaluating MM120 for ADHD and also expect to report top-line data for our Phase IIa trial in ADHD later this year. The Phase IIa trial is being conducted in collaboration with University Hospital Basel in Switzerland and Maastricht University in the Netherlands and is designed to evaluate the therapeutic utility of repeated subperceptual doses of MM120 in adult patients with ADHD. Notably, this is the first modern study in which lysogyne has been administered outside of a clinical setting. The trial expects to enroll a total of 52 participants who will receive a 20-microgram dose of NM120 or placebo twice weekly for six weeks. The primary endpoint for this study is the mean change from baseline in ADHD symptoms as assessed by the AISRS after six weeks of treatment. We look forward to driving this proof of concept trial forward as part of our broader comprehensive MM120 development strategy, which seeks to explore both session-based administration that harnesses the perceptual effects of serotonin agonism and innovative repeat administration models that harness the neuropharmacological effects of recurrent serotonin agonism. With respect to advances in our intellectual property strategy, our patent portfolio includes 26 pending U.S. applications and 12 pending PCT applications. These include applications covering composition, dosing, dosage formulations, and methods of treatment, among others, with projected expiration dates beginning in 2041. Additionally, as a reminder, MindMed currently owns and retains all clinical data and manufacturing rights for MM120, and we are aggressively protecting and expanding our intellectual property portfolio. As we progress toward patent prosecution milestones in 2023 and beyond, We look forward to sharing in greater detail how the significant strategic advancements we have made since 2021 differentiate our product candidates and offer strong opportunities for marketing exclusivity and protection. Now I would like to turn to MM402, or RMDMA, which is a synthetic enantiomer of MDMA that has been preliminarily shown to impart pro-social effects with a favorable tolerability profile. MM402 is in development for the treatment of core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, a disorder that is characterized by atypical social communication and interaction, repetitive patterns of behavior, and restricted interests. Despite its significant and growing prevalence, there are no therapies approved to treat the core symptoms of ASD. MDMA is a synthetic molecule that is often referred to as an empathogen because it is reported to increase feelings of connectedness and compassion. The mechanism of action of RMDMA is believed to involve increased engagement of the serotonin system and secretion of prolactin, resulting in feelings of increased sociability and interpersonal emotional connection. Preclinical studies of RMDMA demonstrate its acute prosocial and empathogenic effects, while its diminished dopaminergic activity suggests that it could exhibit a preferable tolerability profile compared to racemic MDMA or the SN anti-emerge. Our aim for MM402 is to demonstrate its ability to enhance social engagement and interaction rather than having a sedating or blunting effect, which is often a result of currently used off-label medications in the ASD population. Over the course of 2022, we made significant advancements in the MM402 program, hitting key preclinical milestones that are required to enable our first in-human clinical trial. Additionally, we made important preclinical progress to explore the activity of MM402 and animal models of certain brain health indications, including ASD, and plan to report comprehensive preclinical data of MM402 in an ASD model in the first half of this year. In parallel to our research collaboration with University Hospital Basel, in 2022, we initiated and are currently enrolling healthy volunteers in a comparative PKPD study of RS and leucemic MDMA. This study is designed to evaluate the tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and acute subjective physiological and endocrine effects of the three molecules. We believe that successful completion will accelerate our understanding of the pharmacological profile of MM402 as we advance into later stage clinical development. We are also extremely excited to initiate our phase one clinical trial of MM402 later this year. This trial is intended to characterize the tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of MM402 And we continue to explore all opportunities to generate early signs of efficacy as soon as possible in development to support our approach in targeting core symptoms of ASD. Moving on with an aim towards accelerating our R&D efforts, we've continued to collaborate with leading research organizations around the world that provide valuable opportunities to advance novel treatments for brain health disorders. The discoveries that emerge from these collaborations could position us for potential expansion of our development pipeline and offer insights into the potential lifecycle management of our existing program. We collaborate with the Leakey Lab at University Hospital Basel in Switzerland and have exclusive global rights to data, compounds, and patents associated with our research program, evaluating lysogide and other psychedelic compounds. This includes data from numerous completed and ongoing investigator-initiated trials in both healthy volunteers and patient populations. Our collaboration has been useful in de-risking and informing our drug development pipeline and has generated a number of patent applications to date. As we continue to make strong progress advancing into later stages of development, I would also like to take a moment to discuss our view of the commercial opportunity for our product candidates. We have many reasons to believe that there are significant commercial opportunities for MM402 and MM120. Each program seeks to advance novel mechanisms of action and disorders that represent significant unmet medical needs. I'll start by discussing the commercial opportunity for our lead asset, MM120, for the treatment of GAD in a session-based dosing delivery paradigm. There's been a noted increase in the incidence and prevalence of individuals diagnosed with GAD in the U.S. and Europe over the past several years. The number of patients who try and are not adequately treated by available therapies is also increasing. This is a product of the low rate of remission from and the multiple safety and tolerability challenges of the current pharmacological classes, such as SSRIs, SNRIs, antipsychotics, and benzodiazepines, and the absence of true innovation targeting GAD over the past decade. The research we have conducted with patients and healthcare practitioners in the US and Europe tells us that there is a significant demand for new pharmacological class that could offer faster, more profound, and more durable efficacy responses, as well as favorable safety and tolerability profiles. This is particularly true in the large segment of the market of patients who have been on available treatments for years and having exhausted all available options continue to experience intolerable anxiety. The innovation of MM120 and its session-based delivery approach is driven by its mechanism of action as a potent serotonin receptor agonist, which leads to profound psychological effects. Extensive research over the past decade, as well as more recent well-designed clinical studies, have highlighted the potential of this approach to generate rapid and sustained reductions in anxiety symptoms after acute dosing. It is important to remember that in this model, we believe MM120 will be delivered as a single-dose pharmacological intervention that will only require occasional administration. This approach is intended to allow us to disrupt the current model of care for people living with GAD, which is needed now more than ever. We recognize the potential challenges in commercializing a product with such a revolutionary delivery profile, and have embarked on a robust pre-commercialization plan seeking to convince all external stakeholders of the clinical and economic value of MM120. This is why one of our key priorities in 2023 is to develop a market access strategy, document the clinical and socioeconomic burden of GAD, and advance a generation of health economics and outcomes research data required to build a superior value proposition for payers. Another key priority for this year is to examine care models that were developed to enable the delivery of innovative products and other novel approaches in brain health disorders. There are many successful examples in the fields of autoimmune disorders and oncology in which injectable administration of new treatments require the evolution of existing care models or the introduction of new ones. Similar efforts have also been undertaken in other therapeutic areas, including psychiatry and neurology. That said, our approach of studying session-based administration is only one part of a broader strategy, which seeks to harness both the psychological and neurobiological activities that are driven by the serotonin system. We anticipate that our programs that are neurobiologically oriented would leverage well-established commercialization models, similar to those that are used for currently available products. As we progress our pipeline across these delivery paradigms, we look forward to providing greater clarity on the commercial model and path forward for each program, to maximize the reach of our novel product candidates. Lastly, moving to our digital medicine update, our drug development strategy is closely complemented by a suite of digital medicine programs that have the potential to facilitate adoption, use, and access to our product candidates. Our digital medicine programs are oriented towards applications during two primary clinical periods, activities during a treatment session, referred to as intra-session, and activities between treatment sessions, which we refer to as intersession. Each digital medicine program consists of a platform that contains separate underlying components, some of which we anticipate will be within the scope of the FDA's definition of medical devices. For these components that we believe qualify as medical devices, we plan to continue engaging with FDA and other regulatory authorities to receive guidance along our development pathway towards a potential submission for regulatory clearance or approval. The ultimate goal of our digital medicine platform is to develop applications that overcome frictional points in care delivery, thinking to make our product candidates the easiest and most user-friendly for patients, providers, and payers to adopt. I will now turn the call over to our CFO, Sean Greenway, to discuss our financial results. Sean?
spk02: Thanks, Rob, and thank you all for joining us today.
spk04: we will now turn to our financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year into December 31st, 2022. As of December 31st, 2022, our cash and cash equivalents totaled $142.1 million compared to $133.5 million as of December 31st, 2021. We believe that our cash and equivalents positions us to accelerate our preparation for moving quickly into our pivotal program for our lead product candidate, MM120, and will be sufficient to meet our operating requirements beyond our key development milestones in 2023 and into the first half of 2025. Our net cash used in operating activities was $50.1 million for the year ended December 31st, 2022, compared to $45.8 million for the same period and 2021. Research and development expenses were $36.2 million for the year end of December 31, 2022, compared to $34.8 million for the same period in 2021, an increase of $1.4 million. This change was primarily due to increases of $2.9 million in expenses related to clinical research for NM120 and $5.4 million in internal personnel costs as we continue to hire talent to build a world-class drug development team, as mentioned by Rob earlier in this call. These expenses were offset by a decrease of $5.6 million related to our M110 program and a decrease of $2.4 million of expenses in connection with various external R&D collaborations. General and administrative expenses were $30.2 million for the year ended December 31st, 2022, compared to $59.1 million from the same period in 2021, which represents a decrease of $28.9 million. This decrease was primarily due to a reduction of $27.4 million in non-cash stock-based compensation expenses, primarily related to the modification of stock option awards and RSUs recorded during the prior year. Our net loss for the year was $56.8 million compared to $93 million for the same period in 2021. The decrease of $36.2 million was primarily due to a lower operating loss of $27.6 million and an increase of $1.9 million in interest income and a 2022 financing warrant revaluation gain of $7.8 million. Lastly, I wish to reiterate that we are continuing to execute on a very efficient operation in terms of quarterly cash burn and headcount when compared to our peers in the space. As we have highlighted during our prior business update conference calls, we intend to continue to be thoughtful with our cash while also focusing and prioritizing our support for our most precious R&D activities directed towards our key value drivers. More specifically, we will review our discretionary expenses on a constant basis to ensure that we are seeking to capture value from operational efficiencies where we can.
spk02: I will now turn the call back to Rob, who will provide some closing comments.
spk05: Thank you, Sean. Following a year of strong execution, our significant progress in 2022 has set the stage for what we expect to be a transformational 2023. We remain laser-focused on driving our key programs forward, which includes advancing our MM120 product candidate in GAD and ADHD to Phase II clinical readouts, as well as initiating our first clinical trial for MM402. Additionally, our early R&D activities are progressing, and our collaboration with University Hospital Basel continues to offer the opportunity to generate early clinical evidence to inform our pipeline progression. We have a highly talented and deeply committed team here at MindMed who have continued to execute on our mission to advance novel treatments for brain health disorders. And I could not be more excited for what the year ahead holds. With that, I'd like to thank you all again for being here today, and I'm happy to take any questions.
spk08: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now conduct the question and answer session. If you have a question, please press star, followed by the number one on your touchtone phone. You will hear a one-tone prompt acknowledging your request. Your first question comes from the line of Charles Duncan from Cantor. Your line is now open.
spk09: Hey, good afternoon, Rob and Sean. Thanks for hosting the call and congratulations on the progress last year. I had a couple of questions on 120 and then possibly one on 402. Quite intrigued with the 402 program, but I'm not sure I'll get to them. get to that with all my questions on 120. With regard to 120, can you give us a little bit more color on patients being enrolled? I know that you're probably hesitant to say the actual number, but then also if you could clarify on the study that you're doing, is this a parallel group study in which different patients are exposed to different doses? or is it a sequential cohort design?
spk05: Yeah, thanks so much for the question, Charles. So on the first question in terms of patient enrollment, we're very pleased with the progress in the study. We have not reported or announced publicly the exact enrollment numbers at this stage, but we do remain on track for a readout late this year. We've seen, as I mentioned during the call, 20 active sites, and really our team has done an incredible job of bringing all of the sites online, driving interest in the study. We've seen at some of the sites there's been national and local news coverage of what's happening with this program, and that itself has catalyzed a huge interest in patients who have been approaching the clinic. So we've been very pleased and are very optimistic about the path forward to get that readout later this year. As far as the study design, it is a parallel randomization model. So patients are randomized to receive one of the five treatment arms. There is no sequential multi-phase dosing in the study. So patients, 200 patients total, 40 patients per arm would receive one of the five doses that we're testing, which are placebo, obviously, 25, 50, 100, or 200 microgram dose of LSD.
spk09: Okay, and then with regard to top-line data by the end of the year, I guess you're probably assuming that would be the four, or I can assume that would be the four-week primary endpoint, or would you have some patients or all the patients by then, I guess, getting through 12 weeks?
spk05: Yeah, so certainly in terms of the primary endpoint at a bare minimum is what we would anticipate seeing at four weeks. Certainly there are a number of endpoints that we will be assessing over the duration of follow-up, which is a 12-week follow-up in this study. But in terms of top-line results, we would certainly be releasing any announcements on the primary endpoint, which is, again, the change in the Hamilton anxiety scale at four weeks post-treatment.
spk09: Okay. Okay. last quick question then i'll hop back in the queue you know there's a little company out of canada that's saying that they're going to develop two bromo lsd and i guess i'm wondering if you have perspective on that in part they're saying that you know they don't they don't need a hallucinogenic experience and to me it seems like that is part of the efficacy profile of 120, and so I'm just wondering if you could wax philosophical about that.
spk05: Well, I certainly can't comment necessarily about other organizations' programs, particularly ones that we're not closely acquainted with, but certainly historical evidence and the data that our colleagues from UHB released earlier in 2022 suggests a high degree of correlation between the acute perceptual effects, and the clinical outcomes. So I think it's important to focus on the fact that with the molecules we're developing, in particular the MM120 program, this is one of the best studies, if not the best study drug in this class. And both, when you go back in time in particular, there have been more studies and more patients dosed with LSD or lysogide than any of the other drugs in the class, psilocybin included. Given that historical context, given the modern evidence we have and all that we know about this molecule, we certainly feel extremely optimistic about the likelihood of success and the efficiencies we can have because we know so much about the molecule and its performance already.
spk09: Very good. Thanks for taking the question.
spk05: Thanks, Charles.
spk08: Your next question comes from the line of Brian Abrahams from RBC. Your line is now open.
spk06: Hey, guys. Thanks so much for taking my questions. I guess first off on maybe a question on development and investment. Maybe, Sean, can you talk a little bit about how we should be thinking about the cadence of near-term operating expenses over the course of this year? And then maybe for Rob and the team, just curious, your latest views longer term on the level of infrastructure buildup that may ultimately be required for MM120 and how that thinking has evolved as you continue to watch uptake of ketamines and Spravato, and then how to follow up. Thanks.
spk04: Sure. I can start off. Well, we have not provided any forward guidance as of yet on a quarterly basis. But what I would say is that I think if we look at the historical trend in the quarters, we typically range somewhere around that 15% million dollar quarterly plus or minus roughly 20 percent or so depending on various progress. But that said, we continue to be very efficient from a spending standpoint. And so there are areas where we can capture some form of operational efficiency. We certainly look to do that. But again, from a forward standpoint, we haven't provided any intricate detail from a quarterly basis. But historically, That seems to be a good barometer that some people probably look to.
spk05: Thanks, Sean. Yeah, thanks so much, Brian, for being here for the question. When we look at the infrastructure build-out, and we particularly obviously have, I think people generally are focused on analogous commercial rollouts, and the most directly relevant, because it is in psychiatry, I think everyone looks to Spravato, One of the big caveats that we would note for the rollout and uptake of Spravato is the fact that it doesn't appear to perform all that differently in terms of response or duration than racemic ketamine. So when we look at the opportunity and the uptake of Spravato, we really look at the ketamine and its enantiomers all together. And because they are used very much in a similar way, even though ketamine is used very frequently off-label, And Spravato, of course, is indicated for the treatment of fever-resistant depression. I think it's really important that we look at both the infrastructure build-out and the uptake of both racemic ketamine and Spravato together. In that instance, when you look at the broader landscape, the number of clinics, the number of prescribers, the number of patients who are accessing ketamine or S-ketamine, we have seen an incredible uptake. The infrastructure has been built out. And we certainly feel quite optimistic that that could be replicated at even greater scale with our molecules in the drug class more generally. I think one of the other things to highlight really briefly is the fact that we certainly have a view that there will need to be these molecules in our product candidates would need to be administered in a healthcare setting, or at least those that are focused on the session-based delivery model. But exactly what that healthcare setting is, the connection between prescribers and providers is an important element. Everything from the supply chain down to where and which offices and which degrees are required, if any, to be monitoring a patient and supporting a patient during a treatment session. So while certainly we anticipate a connectivity to, of course, prescribers and psychiatry, We do think that the infrastructure is such that it could be incrementally approved upon to enable adoption. We certainly don't think it requires an entirely independent build out that would require both physical infrastructure and the growth in human capital. There's going to be an element of training and growth that is needed, but we're already seeing that uptake driven by ketamine, but also by some of the other therapies that are currently coming to market and will be coming into market over the next several years.
spk06: Got it. Great. Thanks. No, that makes sense. And then maybe just as a quick follow-up, there have been some recent changes at the FDA in terms of leadership with regards to neuroscience, but we've also seen, I think, what seems to be greater permissiveness and flexibility on the part of the FDA around neuropsych drugs of late. So I guess I'm curious if you had any perspectives on that and just how some of the evolving regulatory dynamics might be impacting how you think about future development. Thanks.
spk05: Yeah, it's an interesting point, and certainly when long-tenured individuals at FDA leave, there's a dynamic there, and you're always looking to see who is going to take over in that role more permanently and ultimately how that's going to shape FDA. I think one of the great things about working with FDA, though, is the institutional continuity that we see over time, particularly within the division and the fact that division directors tend to have a high degree of discretion. And we've certainly seen a lot of productivity coming out of the Office of Neuroscience and the Division of Psychiatry in particular. So we have not seen directly any impact on our programs and feel quite optimistic about our engagements so far with FDA and the path forward.
spk03: Great. Thanks again.
spk08: Your next question comes from the line of Francois Brisebois from Oppenheimer. Your line is now open.
spk10: All right. Thanks for taking the questions. Congrats on the progress. Just a couple here. So I was wondering any thoughts behind this came up in terms of hallucinogenic dosing and maybe the relationship to efficacy. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the approach of doing the repeat low dose as sub-hallucinogenic levels for ADHD, and why you think that's a better approach for ADHD versus GAD.
spk05: Yeah, thanks so much, Frank. So, one of the, I think, key concepts here that we want to highlight when we talk about the multiple mechanisms we're seeking to target, all of this is driven by engagement of the serotonin system, in particular with MM120. And the magnitude of dosing and exposure certainly dictates the magnitude of those acute perceptual effects. But it's not lost on us that non-hallucinogenic, non-perceptual engagement of serotonin is a common theme with many of the drugs in psychiatry. The SSRIs, SRIs all engage the serotonin system in some way to drive a treatment benefit. When we look at opportunities to explore other ways of delivering these molecules, the dosing model that was being studied in ADHD was one that was historically been looked at and one that we found particularly of interest. Now, in terms of the differences between ADHD and GAD, I think one of the key highlights is that in anxiety and mood disorders, We've seen a lot of evidence recently where it did demonstrate that correlation between acute perceptual effects and clinical response. And it seems to be driven by acute dosing that has rapid and sustained benefits, long outlasting the exposure to the drug. But one of the things, again, that we think in conditions and disorders like ADHD and perhaps some of the other indications we have been looking at together with our collaborators is that the on-drug activity may be important. And the mechanism of action may not be driven by an acute exposure and anticipation that clinical response long outlasts that exposure. So when we look at these models of more recurrent administration, it's simply another dosing paradigm and could have relevance to a number of indications. But for the ADHD program, we thought it was particularly appropriate to start exploring utilizing and studying the non-psychological mechanism and ultimately generating some proof of concept data to inform where we take that program from there.
spk10: Great, thanks. And if I sneak in another one, in terms of the autism, I think it's a very interesting program. Can you just talk about maybe the variability in, you know, autism and the spectrum and the impact that that would have on your patient selection and maybe efficacy here? And just, you know, if you could touch in also in the first half, 23, that's kind of, coming up slash right now, what should we be looking for in terms of the preclinical data for 402?
spk05: Yeah, thanks so much for the question. So we agree. We think the MM402 program is particularly interesting, especially because there are no approved therapies for autism spectrum disorder. And also because of the pharmacodynamic effects of both racemic MDMA and preclinically what we see with our MDMA, suggest that the, again, the on drug effects could be very closely aligned with what treatment benefit could look like in the core symptoms of ASD, which are deficits in social communication skills. And so as we approach that program, we are very interested early in development, very early in development, even in phase one, looking at healthy volunteers and as early as we can in the development program, looking at individuals with autism spectrum disorder to determine if we are getting those acute on-drug pharmacodynamic type effects that we think could be correlated or predictive of a clinical response in larger, longer-term studies. So that's been the overall, the general approach and what gets us excited about the ability to generate that very early signs of efficacy and inform future development. In terms of the patient population, we haven't released yet the specifics of the protocol in the patient population that we would be enrolling in that program, and there will certainly be some engagement across the board, key opinion leaders, FDA, that we, at the appropriate time, would be announcing and discussing at greater length. But it is certainly a spectrum disorder, one that has a high degree of variability and severity, and one that we obviously want to make sure that we're appropriately approaching so that we're both being ethically responsible and that we're approaching it in a way that gives us the best opportunity for success. and ultimately the most important opportunity to demonstrate a treatment benefit in the patients that could benefit from it in that population. So more to come on the specifics of patient selection and where in that spectrum and severity we will be targeting, but certainly a lot of optimism for seeing some early signs that could be supportive of where we're going.
spk10: Great. Thanks.
spk08: Your next question comes from the line of Elmer Piros from EF Hutton. Your line is now open.
spk01: Yes. Hi, Rob. Can you hear me, please?
spk02: We can.
spk01: Hi, Elmer. Okay. Hi. So are you content with the 20 clinical sites that you have for the anxiety program, or are you looking forward to expand to more sites at this stage?
spk05: We're very happy with the number of sites we have active. We're always exploring for future studies, for current studies, good clinical sites, but right now we started targeting 20, and we have 20 sites active, so we're very pleased with where we are.
spk01: Okay, okay. And do you have any visibility on when some of the compositional matter patents would be published, whether it's first half or second half of this year?
spk05: We don't have precise dates of when those publications, or we haven't announced precise dates of when those publications would be happening, but certainly a lot of progress, and I think certainly as we progress through the year, there will be much more clarity in terms of the patent prosecution, but also in terms of where those patents are aimed and how we're approaching the marketing exclusivity and ultimate protection of our market.
spk01: Thank you. And so... The dosing in ADHD, I think it's at 20 microgram level. I know it's a little bit forward-looking question, but how are you thinking about potentially controlling the distribution of this drug? Because if you take five pills, you're already on a trip, so to speak.
spk05: Yeah, I think it's a correct point. I think it's also an opportunity at so many times when we're working on drugs in this class to zoom out and look at other molecules as well. Because while it's absolutely true, there are many, many drugs that are distributed widely in a variety of populations where if you take too many of them, you'll have severe harm where people can die from taking too many. And while certainly we would seek to explore distribution and control and dosage forms and everything that would enable a responsible rollout, it's also not lost on us that often the profound nature of the acute effects, the perceptual effects of psychedelics, perhaps distort the view of the relevance to the real world here. So when we think of things like psychostimulants that are outdistributed widely, when we think of the no diazepines, when we think of a number of medications that if you were to take more than is prescribed or recommended, you would have very bad outcomes. You know, I think that gives us some degree of comfort that this has been done many, many times before. And while there were absolutely have to be appropriate controls in place, that is something that can be done. And notably in our phase two A study, it's also been quite interesting because in that study, we're able to administer 20 microgram doses in Switzerland outside of a clinical setting and actually demonstrate safety from evidence of that can be done. And so as we conclude the study and as we have those data and as we were able to ultimately engage with regulatory authorities to discuss the path forward, we think it's important to monitor that and pay very close attention to responsible rollout, but it shouldn't be perceived any differently than any other drug that could have a risk of overdosing and have an effect at those levels.
spk01: Yeah, to your point, I once almost overdosed on caffeine. But yes, to what extent the University of Basel, University Hospital Basel studies the PKPD, studies a gatekeeping item and the results of it for your internal trial in ASD patients?
spk05: It's not a gatekeeping trial in any manner. it is something that will be advanced in parallel and has different aims. And so the results from those studies should certainly, while we don't control directly the timelines of investigator-initiated studies, I think we certainly feel like those results would be coming at an appropriate time in development that could give us a lot of insight in terms of where to take the program. And I think really importantly, it's nice to highlight that because we are doing a comparative study, it will also, we view, be an opportunity to demonstrate the differentiated profile from racemic MDMA, from SMDMA, and ultimately demonstrate the relevance of the population of interest.
spk01: Thank you very much, Rob.
spk03: Thank you, Elmer.
spk07: Your next question comes from the line of Patrick Trucchio from HC Wainwright.
spk08: Your line is now open.
spk00: Thanks. Good evening. I have a few follow-up questions on MM120 and GAD. First, just with the understanding of the blinding and the Phase IIb trial, I'm wondering if there have been any reports of severe adverse events or any other adverse events that have been unexpected or unusual based on your expectations going into the trial. And then secondly, I'm wondering if you can discuss the expected dose response in the trial and whether there's a particular dose or doses that would be beneficial bring forward to a potential Phase III program from a safety or efficacy perspective based either on the literature or your work you've done with your collaborators?
spk02: Yeah, thanks so much.
spk05: Thanks so much for the question, Patrick. So, to take the latter question first in terms of dose response, there has been, as I mentioned earlier, evidence that the degree of acute perceptual effect has been correlated with clinical response. It's really important to highlight that while there have been a number of studies looking at dose response in terms of self-reported pharmacodynamic type endpoints and pharmacokinetic endpoints, including from our collaborators in Switzerland, there has not been a robust dose response study conducted. And we certainly believe that this is the most extensive, most robust dose optimization, dose response study ever conducted with psychedelics in a patient population. So that's what we're looking to do to really drive the insights about the appropriate dose selection. One of the reasons we chose this design and one of the anticipated findings here is going to be to identify differences in both the acute magnitude of response and the durability of that response over the course of the 12 weeks that we follow patients, which could inform both directly the dose we choose for our physical program but also other underpinnings of the functional mechanisms of action. The doses we chose correspond to different levels of that perceptual activity. And we do have good PKPD characterization of these doses from some of the historical studies in Healthy Volunteers. So our overall view here is simply to determine which of those doses is best suited to take forward into a physical program. And certainly there's always an interest to find the dose that drive the kind of efficacy we're anticipating and desiring to see. But the lowest clinically effective dose is one thing that's quite important for any program to identify in development.
spk00: And then just in terms of, you know, just with the enrollment where it's progressed to date, have there been any reports of unusual, you know, adverse events or anything that was unexpected going into the trial?
spk05: Yeah, so there's certainly nothing that would warrant any sort of public disclosure. Otherwise, we certainly would have announced that. But we've been very pleased with the progress. And we obviously, our team monitors all of the adverse events in the study. But given that it is a blinding study, excuse me, a blinded study, that we wouldn't be able to disclose whether there's any sort of relevant changes or responses or adverse events in any of the dosing cohorts at this point.
spk00: Got it. And then just a follow-up on the commercialization strategy, some of the comments from earlier in the call. Our understanding is that earlier this month, the AMA published details regarding a Category 3 CPT code that can serve to facilitate future healthcare services tied to psychedelic therapeutics. It is also our understanding that although certain drug sponsors pursued that code, it's available to all those involved in psychedelic drug development who could eventually benefit from it. So I'm wondering if you can Talk more about from the payer or reimbursement perspective, more about these codes or other aspects of the payer landscape regarding psychedelic medicines. And can you talk about these codes in more detail or perhaps how having some of these other compounds like MDMA or psilocybin entering the market ahead of MM 120 may help facilitate the launch of the drug is eventually approved.
spk05: Yeah, thanks. And it's a great question, Patrick. Any part of the infrastructure, and certainly there's a lot of focus on human capital and the personnel that are going to be required to deliver and oversee the delivery of this drug class, the physical infrastructure, but it's often overlooked that there's many other steps in the commercialization distribution process. And there are a variety of approaches that have been and can be taken to overcome that. That includes models for reimbursement, models for distribution of the drug, REMS, if any of these drugs ultimately have a REMS in place, different approaches for how to administer that REMS. And certainly there's going to be that physical and structural infrastructure that's going to be required. CPT codes are certainly an aspect that could come into play there, right? When there's some developments in this industry that are are not competitive and that if we had overnight an infrastructure build out that would likely benefit many of the organizations and those organizations that are going to be some of the first movers. We feel very, very pleased with where we are and the fact that we will have our unique approach, which we certainly believe will be, as I mentioned earlier in the call, there will be aimed at making the adoption and utilization of our therapies the easiest, most user-friendly among providers, among patients, among payers to reimburse. So that's our aim. And some of those underlying infrastructure in terms of CPT codes, in terms of distribution and all of that is going to be required. And it's, again, something I think we feel quite excited to work on collaboratively with the field.
spk03: Thank you very much. Thank you, Patrick.
spk07: Your next question comes from the line of Charles Duncan from Kantor. Your line is now open.
spk09: Hi. Yeah, thanks for taking the follow-up. Actually, one of my questions on the CPT code was just addressed, so we'll look forward to seeing when these drugs become available if the codes will apply broadly. But the second question that I had was on 402. And like I said earlier in the call, I'm quite intrigued with that. And I'm wondering if a racemic or not racemic, R-enantiomer, MDMA, has any activity that specifically you think would be better better evaluated in an ASD patient population versus a PTSD patient population? What is it about the R enantiomer that you think is going to result in a pharmacological profile that's differentiated than, say, a racemate?
spk05: Yeah, it's a great question, Charles. So, there is some historical evidence and really preliminaries and mechanistic studies with our astrocemic MDMA. And what we've seen in those early studies, both in terms of target engagement and in terms of preclinical models, is that the RNN tumor appears to maintain or even enhance the prosocial effects that are observed. with racemic and noted widely with MDMA's administration. And the S-antimer seems to drive much more of the dopaminergic response, less of the interpersonal connection and prosocial activity. So we see more stimulant-like activity from SMDMA and more of the prosocial and pathogenic kind of qualities from RMDMA. Given that profile, our anticipation would be that RMDMA would if we can enhance or maintain the pro-social benefits and mitigate some of the less desirable effects that might be either dose or duration limiting, that would be, you know, offer a significant opportunity to pursue this, an answer and a new dosing paradigm that would be quite distinct from racemic MDMAs used. At a target engagement level, we do see really quite discrete pharmacology between the R and the S and antimers of MDMA, which is, of course, not uncommon phenomenon with isomers with drug. And so those preclinical data, we certainly have some insights from historical literature, a lot more that we have developed internally. And we feel quite, you know, quite positive on the selection of the RNA and sperm, its appropriateness to drive increases in serotonin levels, engagement of serotonin 2A, and in beliefs of prolactin, which all seem to be related with that pro-social engagement, and ultimately will drive a response in ASD.
spk09: So it sounds like it may be differentiated in terms of therapeutic window. So I guess that... It gives me the question that I'm wondering why you wouldn't look at a patient population which MDMA has been shown to be useful already and with yours being a, call it a second generation or best-in-class or next-in-class drug.
spk05: Yeah, it's a good question, Charles, and I certainly would say that We actively explore opportunities for a number of indications, a number of CNS indications with all the molecules developing. So we're certainly exploring other avenues. And as we progress and as we share more data preclinically and as we get into the clinic and look at some of the clinical insights, we certainly, with any of these programs, would not restrict ourselves and say we're only going to position for a single indication over time.
spk09: Okay, thanks for taking the question, Rob.
spk07: Thanks so much.
spk08: This concludes the question and answer portion of the call. I will now turn the call back over to MindMed CEO, Rob Barrow, for closing remarks. Rob?
spk05: Thank you, Operator, and thank you, everyone, who joined us today. Before we conclude, I just wanted to also thank the extended MindMedicine team, our investors, our board, and many people who have been supportive to the company along the way, including all of our study participants and their families. We really are excited about the year ahead and look forward to sharing more about our continued progress over the months ahead. So thank you again for being here, and we'll look forward to reporting those results as we progress.
spk03: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation.
spk07: You may now disconnect.
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