Seeking Serotonin Receptor Agonists to Elicit Psychedelic Effects, Neuroplasticity and Neurogenesis

Beckley Psytech is dedicated to helping patients suffering from neurological and psychiatric disorders by developing a pipeline of psychedelic compounds into licensed pharmaceutical medicines. They are looking for universities that are working on serotonin (5HT2A) receptor agonists to elicit psychedelic effects, neuroplasticity, and neurogenesis.

Approaches of Interest

• Therapeutic approaches to treat disorders where there is a significant unmet need e.g., depression, addiction
• Therapeutic compounds with a suitable onset of action and duration of effect for the treatment of the disorder
• Compound scaffolds based on tryptamine, ergoline or phenethylamine
• Compounds with selectivity for 5HT2A are of the highest interest, however compounds with additional selectivity (alongside 5HT2A binding) for 5HT2B, Sigma 1, 5HT1D and 5HT7 will also be considered
• Basic research into the activation of pathways downstream of 5HT2A binding is also of interest
• Novel approaches for the targeted delivery to cell types of the brain e.g., nanoparticles, microneedles etc.

Out of Scope

• Therapeutic approaches to treat non‑neuropsychiatric disorders

Developmental Stages of Interest

• Opportunities at basic research phase to Phase I clinical trial are within scope
• As a minimum, the therapeutic compounds of interest will have in vitro and ex vivo validation (e.g., target receptor binding profile and toxicology indicators) while additional in vivo validation is preferable (e.g., ADME in mice/rats/dogs and behavioural studies) 

Submission Information

Submission of one page, 200-300 word briefs are encouraged, along with any optional supplementary information e.g., relevant publications and patents. In submitting to this campaign, you confirm that your submission contains only non-confidential information.

Opportunity for Collaboration 

Beckley Psytech is open to a range of collaboration opportunities, with the most appropriate outcome being decided on a case-by-case basis. Example outcomes include licensing assets, project/PhD funding, and research collaborations.