A Chicago company led by former Blackhawks player Daniel Carcillo that's using psychedelics to treat brain injuries is funding a new lab at the University of South Carolina designed to research and treat traumatic brain injuries.
Wesana announced Friday that it is partnering with the University of South Carolina to launch the BrainStorm Lab, an advanced research and product development facility focused on treating traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Wesana is spending $1.5 million on the buildout of the facility, and will use the space to do clinical drug development work and other research around using psychedelics to treat TBI.
The lab expects to work with athletes, including Olympians, as well as military personnel and other patients battling brain injuries.
Wesana is led by Carcillo, a two-time Stanley Cup champion for the Chicago Blackhawks, and Chad Bronstein, who's also the co-founder of Chicago cannabis marketing startup Fyllo. Wesana's investors include boxing legend Mike Tyson, Ambria Capital, JLS Fund, K2 & Associates and George Steinbrenner IV, and it went public in Canada earlier this year after reverse takeover with Canada-based Debut Diamonds Inc.
Founded just last year, Wesana has set out to treat traumatic brain injuries with the use of psilocybin, the naturally occurring substance found in magic mushrooms that provides a psychedelic effect. The company was born out of Carcillo's experience using psilocybin to treat his own brain injuries after years of head trauma playing in the NHL. He said psilocybin worked better than any other form of treatment.
Development on the new lab is expected to begin within the next 30 days, and it will start evaluating patients within nine months, Wesana said.
