Podcast: Clearmind's Non-Hallucinogenic Psychoactive Molecule Could Become A Solution For Addictive Behaviors

Welcome to a new episode of our Benzinga Psychedelics Podcast. We are joined herein by executives of Clearmind Medicine CMND, a biotech company developing a proprietary, psychoactive yet non-hallucinogenic treatment for a diverse array of addictive behaviors, with Alcohol Use Disorder (aka AUD) as its first indication pursued.

In conversation with guests Dr. Adi Zuloff-Shani, Cleamind's CEO, and Mark Haden, VP of business development and an addiction counseling and management specialist, we dive into the world of addiction treatment and what the intriguing molecule known as MEAI can do in different behavioral scenarios, including binge eating, metabolic disorders and cocaine addiction.

Listen to the full podcast on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Legal Path For Taking A Known Psychoactive Molecule To Consumers

The alcohol substitutes market is an interesting one. With virtually no competitors developing such therapeutic alternatives, the Clearmind team has taken up the 5-methoxy-2-aminoindane (or MEAI) molecule and built an active patent protection around treatment for several indications, starting with AUD.

First used in the 1990's by alcohol consumers whose anecdotal reports included a suppression of the desire to drink more.

“MEAI is a pleasurable experience. It’s attractive, and then it presses the satiation button. It's the right range of pleasure, doesn’t stimulate this ‘more and more' response. It has an absolutely and completely different mechanism of action," Haden says.

CMND 100, the company's proprietary MEAI-based compound, is already set to join off the clinical path with Phase 1/2 trials beginning once U.S. and Israeli authorities give the final nod.

Previous preclinical studies demonstrated MEAI's "highly safe profile" and indications of a significant dose-dependent effect in reducing alcohol consumption in animals. Specifically, CMND-100 is assumed to work by suppressing the decision to consume more alcohol through potentially innervating neural pathways that lead to "sensible behavior."

Interestingly, the research team has been investigating the potential boost effect provided by MEAI's combination with Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) through its partnership with SciSparc SPRC. This molecule is believed to narrow down the needed CMND 100 dose up to 50% while still sustaining positive effects.

MEAI's potential seems vast. In addition to showing positive preclinical evidence for obesity and other addictions treatment, it could even be considered a "fail-safe" (or Plan B) for MDMA therapy in certain cases.

Yet the road from the bench to the market is a very long process and success is never guaranteed. That's where Dr. Zuloff Shani's two decades of executive experience in the biomedical research and development sector come in. Shani has moved Clearmind's bet for developing novel treatments for alcohol abuse, obesity, depression and PTSD treatments to meet sustainable finances that can provide further R&D.

Dr. Adi Zuloff-Shani, Clearmind CEO, photo courtesy of Clearmind Medicine

For his part, Haden's 30 years of work in addiction counseling and management as well as drug policy education and reform inform the company's regulatory advancement of MEAI as a potential treatment for AUD, further enabling clinical development’s move toward the market.