- As psychedelic stock performance suddenly picks up, Mind Cure Health stands out as one of the biggest bargains
- Its November 4th corporate update, reports strong progress on iSTRYM commercialization and exciting news in drug development
Mind Cure Health (CAN:MCUR / US:MCURF) has just released a new corporate update. Its iSTRYM platform is exceeding initial penetration targets, ibogaine manufacturing is on track, and an interesting new drug development initiative is on the near-term horizon.
More on this later. In many ways, MINDCURE is representative of the emerging psychedelic drug industry.
By coincidence, MINDCURE commenced trading as a public company on September 21, 2020, one trading day after the IPO of Compass Pathways (US:CMPS). As all investors in psychedelic stocks already know, the Compass IPO sparked a huge rally in psychedelic stocks.
MINDCURE rose with the industry. From an initial trading price of CAD$0.20, MCUR soared to a 2020 high of CAD$1.09.
Following that peak, just like the rest of the industry, MINDCURE has seen its stock slide to much lower levels in 2021. However (like many other companies), the Company capitalized on that big 2020 rally to raise a large amount of capital – at an attractive price for shareholders.
Today, MCUR sits at CAD$0.31 and the Company has a market cap of CAD$29.06 million, despite recently reporting cash and equivalents of CAD$15.6 million. That’s a very lean cash-to-market-cap ratio of less than 2:1, one of the lowest in the industry.
A value-packed company in an industry ready to rally
However, the disappointing market conditions for existing shareholders in the psychedelic drug industry are an opportunity for new investors. As Psychedelic Stock Watch recently observed, the industry appears to be on the verge of a broad, new rally.
What does MINDCURE have to offer new investors, apart from being cash-rich and being positioned in an emerging industry that represents the best investment opportunity in life sciences?
The update just released by MINDCURE spells out what the Company has been doing with the capital it raised over the past year. It also points investors toward where management has been building value.
The value proposition for MINDCURE starts with iSTRYM. iSTRYM is MINDCURE’s proprietary digital therapeutics platform.
The initial version of the platform is not only launched, it’s being deployed in mental health treatment clinics in North America and Europe. On August 26th, MINDCURE announced the initial release of iSTRYM.
The Company set aggressive goals for the distribution and adoption of iSTRYM by mental health providers: 10 clinics by Q4 of 2021 and 150 clinics by the end of 2022.
The November 4th update reports that MINDCURE is ahead of schedule with its minimum viable product (MVP), already having partnered with 20 ketamine clinics in nine U.S. states and three Canadian provinces.
With MINDCURE now having 20 clinic partners in place for iSTRYM only 10 weeks after the initial release, this also puts the Company on track to meet its larger goal: full commercial deployment in Q1 2022 and 150 partner clinics for iSTRYM by the end of 2022.
Digital therapeutics is the future of healthcare
Investors familiar with this industry know that active players in psychedelics-assisted mental health therapy (both public and private) have been busy lining up a digital therapeutics platform to support their treatment model.
Digital therapeutics is rapidly becoming big business in healthcare for two reasons.
- General improvements in efficiency: online portals to streamline everything from scheduling appointments to monitoring medication regimens
- New, next-generation digital therapeutics platforms are incorporating AI into their software, which allows practitioners to both expedite and improve on patient treatment
MINDCURE spent much of the last year assembling and integrating the components of its own, proprietary platform. Today, the Company (and shareholders) are preparing to reap the rewards.
President and CEO, Kelsey Ramsden telegraphed MINDCURE’s overall strategy for investors back at the end of April.
“MINDCURE recognizes the value of blue sky opportunities in drug development and while we pursue the establishment of a clearly differentiated research program from other psychedelic companies, leading with synthesizing ibogaine, we believe strongly that bottom line fundamentals are essential, and that is why we are developing horizons of realizable revenue through a planned global SaaS rollout with iSTRYM anticipated to become a platform backbone of the psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy industry with our AI driven technology.” [emphasis mine]
Microdose, an industry icon in terms of both investor education and as a frequent host for public and private companies in its virtual investor conferences, is one of the believers in iSTRYM. Microdose has nominated MINDCURE as “B2B Tech Company of the Year” in the psychedelics space.
However, MINDCURE is much more than just a software company. The Company has been steadily building value for shareholders with both its proprietary production of synthetic ibogaine and its drug development initiatives.
Synthetic ibogaine production (and distribution) remains on track. MINDCURE’s GLP (“Good Laboratory Practice”) synthetic ibogaine is expected to be available by Q2 2022. MINDCURE is also seeking to leverage this synthetic product into drug development opportunities.
Two ibogaine-based drug candidates, MC-106 and MC-808 have been selected for internal development. Investors can expect to hear more about these programs by Q2 of 2022.
Targeting 2022 Phase II clinical trial
Perhaps the most-exciting recent news for MINDCURE in drug development concerns its previous announcement on “The Desire Project”.
MINDCURE is working on an MDMA-assisted treatment targeting female hypoactive sexual desire disorder. With an estimated treatment population of 9.5 million premenopausal women in the United States alone, this is a major untapped treatment market.
In MINDCURE’s November 4th update, the Company revealed its latest progress here.
- Expecting a pre-IND meeting with the FDA by Q1 2022
- Aiming for commencement of a Phase IIa clinical trial by Q3 of 2022
Mind Cure Health has been flying under the radar for most of 2021. As its iSTRYM footprint starts to rapidly expand, that’s quickly changing.
With $15+ million in cash, a strong growth trajectory, and an exciting business plan, today’s CAD$29 million market cap is overdue for a large jump higher.
For investors in psychedelic stocks who are interested in even more information on MINDCURE, Psychedelic Stock Watch will be releasing a Q&A with President and CEO, Kelsey Ramsden in the near future.
DISCLOSURE: The writer holds shares in Mind Cure Health. Mind Cure Health is a client of Psychedelic Stock Watch.