Mindset Pharma Inc. announced that after extensive preclinical screening studies, a lead psychedelic drug clinical candidate, MSP-2020, and a second back-up drug candidate, MSP-2003, have been selected from its Family 2 program in collaboration with The McQuade Center for Strategic Research and Development, LLC (MSRD), a member of the global Otsuka family of pharmaceutical companies, to advance to IND enabling studies. MSP-2020 and MSP-2003 are both novel and patentable compounds. They are covered under Mindset's United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) patent number 17/387,864, titled “3-Pyrrolidine-Indole Derivatives as Serotonergic Psychedelic Agents for the Treatment of CNS Disorders.” Mindset has received a notice of allowance from the USPTO for this application.

In side-by-side comparisons to psilocybin and psilocin, the two drug candidates elicit in vitro and behavioral responses consistent with a stronger and shorter acting psychedelic effect than psilocybin and a significantly reduced half-life. The drug candidates are CNS penetrant and exhibit high oral bioavailability in different species. They are being developed as optimized next-generation psychedelic drug candidates for the treatment of mental health disorders with IND enabling studies to be initiated by a leading global CRO in late 2022.