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It’s no surprise that with millions of people suffering, the global treatment gap for many mental health disorders has expanded. For example, it is reported that only a minority of people with major depressive disorder (MDD) receive adequate treatment. Current pharmaceutical drugs — such as those manufactured by big pharma entities like Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE:LLY) — achieve a low success rate — only around 42% to 51% of antidepressants effectively help patients, with numerous side effects. Essentially, the same type of medication has been used for more than 30 years for these types of disorders and targets the same pathways in the brain. 

Pasithea says its first focus is on creating drugs with new mechanisms of action to address brain disorders. Its team has years of hands-on experience in the fields of psychiatry, neurology, psychopharmacology and neuroscience. Team members include Executive Chairman and Co-Founder Lawrence Steinman from Stanford University, a renowned immunologist who co-founded Neurocrine Sciences (NASDAQ:NBIX) with a market cap of $10 billion, and CEO Dr. Tiago Reis Marques, a lecturer and researcher at Imperial College and Kings College in London, one of the top centers in the world for psychiatry and neuroscience.

Its secondary focus is to provide ketamine treatments for patients who suffer from mental health disorders like treatment-resistant depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Approved by the FDA, ketamine has shown to be effective in up to 75% of patients who struggle with treatment-resistant depression. Unfortunately ketamine is not easy to administer, as it is normally given through IV infusion under medical supervision, typically in a specialized clinic. However, patients with psychiatric diseases often experience symptoms such as social isolation, lack of motivation and high levels of anxiety that can make the experience of traveling to a clinic overwhelming.

In addition, the U.K. clinic operates thanks to a partnership with Zen Healthcare, with 3 locations in Marylebone, Knightsbridge, and Holborn. Pasithea believes that this model sets them apart, provides access to patients, facilitates expansion into new markets, and creates a diversified revenue stream for the research and development efforts that are the primary focus.

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