Abstract

Should people invest in psychedelic molecules or the more complex therapies involving these molecules? How and who will build the ecosystem around psychedelics? The “market”, the regulators, the companies?

Where will the money come from to make psychedelic therapies a legal and legitimate part of global society? Often the most difficult – and expensive – are the last few meters. In recent months, some of the investor-driven early players in the field have closed their clinical operations. Or they have canceled or postponed trials. There is a process of concentration which, depending on your point of view, can be seen as a healthy contraction or a bad omen for the field of psychedelic medicine.

How and where should investors put their money? And is there a role for the state? The investment model also depends on how psychedelic therapy is conceptualized: as a pharmaceutical intervention or as a combination therapy. Are we already in a phase where speculative money is being replaced by long-term investments – with correspondingly lower dividends? Or is the approval of the first substances in danger of failing?

In this symposium we will discuss the differences in investment philosophies on both sides of the Atlantic – but also whether better conceptual models are needed for the implementation of psychedelic therapies. The role of regulators is also at stake – business as usual or new models for a new class of substances? And what would have to happen for psychedelic therapies to have a disruptive effect on the healthcare system – and how can money be made from them?