A San Jose-based organization that's at the forefront of the push to use some psychedelic drugs for mental health treatments announced Friday a fresh $100 million in backing along with a corporate rebranding.
The MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, a separate subsidiary of the nonprofit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), said it would now be known as Lykos Therapeutics.
The name change came with a first for the company: it accepted an equity line investment traditionally used by startups. Its $100 million Series A is being led by Helena, a Los Angeles-based organization that has a mission of finding "potential solutions to societal problems" and then tries to find solutions for them.
“We are honored to be able to support what we hope will be the first FDA-approved psychedelic-assisted therapy, and to lay the foundation for Lykos to be the commercialization partner of choice for the psychedelic ecoystem," Helena Managing Partner Protik Basu told the research publication Psychedelic Alpha.
Other investors that are part of the round are: the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, EIR Therapeutics, Vine Ventures, True Ventures, Elizabeth Koch’s Unlikely Collaborators Foundation, The Joe and Sandy Samberg Foundation, Bail Capital, KittyHawk Ventures and Satori Neuro.
The company, which is located in San Jose near Westfield Valley Fair, got its start in 2014 when it was spun off from MAPS.
CEO Amy Emerson said in a letter that the name change to Lycos Therapeutics was made to honor the qualities behind the name lycos, which is Greek for Wolf. Those are: bravery, courage, loyalty and intelligence.
"Our North star is to fundamentally change how the healthcare system holistically treats people with mental health conditions. We are working to articulate what it means to be a leading public benefit organization in the pharmaceutical space," Emerson wrote.
Lycos has been investigating the use of MDMA, a drug better known by the name of ecstasy, to treat post traumatic stress disorder. It recently submitted its Phase 3 clinical trials to the federal Food and Drug Administration for review.
