We are driven to develop novel solutions
to treat debilitating mental health conditions.
A Brighter Future for Mental Health
We pioneer
MindBio Therapeutics is pioneering clinical studies into the microdosing of psychedelic medicines to treat a range of medical conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, panic disorder, chronic pain and opiate addictions.
We invest
We invest in clinical research to discover potential new treatment options and we aim to create novel medicines and treatment regimes from breakthrough microdosing studies.
Phase 1 and Phase 2a clinical trials have completed to determine the safety, tolerability and efficacy of microdosing MB22001 for treating depression.
We complete
Phase 2a clinical trials completed in March 2024 using MB22001 in Major Depressive Disorder. The Phase 2a clinical trial resulted in 53% of depressed patients entering the trial being in complete remission after 8 weeks of treatment. Overall, there was a 14.1 drop in MADRS Score (Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale). The MADRS is a global standard for measuring the severity of Clinical Depression. Overall there was an impressive 60% drop in Depressive symptoms at week 8 of the trial.
Phase 2b clinical trials - Depression: The Company has just started dosing in a Phase 2b depression trial. In this randomised active placebo-controlled trial, 90 patients with Major Depressive Disorder will be given microdoses of MB22001 or an active placebo over an 8 week period. At the end of the 8 weeks, all participants in the placebo and drug group will be offered an 8 week extension to ensure the placebo group has the opportunity to trial MB22001.
Phase 2b clinical trials - Late Stage Cancer & Depression/Anxiety: A second Phase 2b trial in late stage cancer patients is also currently underway. This cancer study will evaluate the feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled trial comparing psychedelic-microdose assisted Meaning-Centred Psychotherapy to standard Meaning-Centred Psychotherapy in people who have advanced cancer and anxiety or depression.
Participants will be randomised to receive psychotherapy alongside doses of either an LSD microdose or placebo. The feasibility, acceptability, safety and potential psychological benefits of this intervention will be assessed. Our findings will inform the development of a larger trial and provide an initial indication of the potential benefits of psychedelic microdosing in advanced cancer.
We develop
Our Team
Zena has a strong interest in the future of health care. She serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Psychologists Society and was formerly Chief Executive of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Zena is a member of the international advisory board of Connext2MyDoctor and the Telehealth Influencers Alliance. She is also a director of the Australian Patients Association and Chair of the Board Subcommittee on governance and risk of the Victorian Farmers Federation. Zena has substantial experience serving on boards of government entities.
She holds a PhD in psychology from the Australian Catholic University, a Master of Business Administration from Monash University. and a Master of Education from La Trobe University.
Zena brings a wealth of experience in health changes and strategic advocacy to governments.
Dr. Zena Burgess
Non-Executive Director
Justin Hanka
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Gavin has over 25 years of experience leading companies in the pharmaceutical sector. Prior to founding Generic Health, a leading generic pharmaceutical company which was sold to Lupin Pharmaceuticals, (NSE: LUPIN), Gavin started his executive career at Bristol Myers Squibb.
He was Australian CEO of Amneal Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: AMRX) and Executive Director of Slade Health, Australia’s leading hospital pharmacy chain.
Gavin founded Directo, Australia’s first online pharmaceutical B2B marketplace for pharmacies and suppliers.
Gavin Upiter
Chairman
Justin Hanka is an investment banker focused on financing mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions. He co-founded MindBio Therapeutics in 2019 after learning about the potential of psychedelics and emerging treatments for mental health disorders.
Justin is Non-Executive Director of EonX (CSE:EONX), a financial technology company, Non-Executive Chairman of Blackhawk Growth Corp (CSE: BLR), a listed Investment Issuer, Non-Executive Director and Chairman of SPARC AI (CSE: SPAI). Justin also Co-founded Hardenbrook Group, a merchant and investment bank, that develops unique intellectual property projects spun out of tier 1 academic institutions and universities.
Justin’s expertise spans investment banking, capital raising and cross border M&A, IPOs, capital markets equity placements and he has experience in the pharmaceutical and health technology sector, fin-techs, AI & ML, health insurance and financial products, influencer marketing, health and wellness, agri-tech, entertainment and e-commerce.
PhD. FAICD, FAPS
B.Sc Eng.
B.Bus Grad Dip. Fin
Dr Russell’s vision is to empower people to engage in healthy self-care strategies to manage the impact of their illness for long-term wellbeing.
After graduating with a Master in Biochemistry from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, Dr Russell worked for a decade in the pharmaceutical industry managing clinical trials.
Over the years Dr Russell developed an interest in the psychosocial adaptation to illness and strategies to manage the stress-related aspects of disease. Her studies in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK) stimulated her desire to undertake research in this field. Following this, Dr Russell joined the psycho-oncology research team at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia, evaluating supportive care interventions for people affected by cancer.
In 2018 Dr Russell was awarded her PhD from Deakin University, Australia. Coupling with her personal interest in mindfulness practices and her professional experience in psycho-oncology, Dr Russell’s PhD research was designed to determine whether a mindfulness program could benefit people with melanoma. The focus of the program was to empower participants to manage their health by promoting awareness of emotions and teaching skills to manage distressing thoughts. Central to the success of the program was the flexibility offered to participants to access the information at their own convenience.
Dr Russell is dedicated to expand from this early research to build an evidence base informing the development of self-guided interventions promoting the mental health of people affected by cancer and other chronic conditions.
Dr Lahiru Russell
Chief Scientist
Digital Mind Technology
PhD
Jacqui Zyl
Health Communications
Women’s Health
B. Pharma
Jacqui writes about informative issues, particularly focused on women’s health to help the public understand the importance of the clinical research that MindBio is conducting relative to the mental health problems that we face in our daily lives.
Alex Reszelska
Health Communications
Family’s and Children’s Health
Alex has a keen interest in families and children’s mental health and wellbeing and is a communications specialist in health and family issues.
Advisory Board
Member Advisory Board
Patrick is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Microdose Psychedelic Insights, a guide to the psychedelic medicine industry. With a vision to shift the world’s perception of psychedelic medicine, Microdose distributes and creates the most compelling content, financial analysis, engaging events and groundbreaking education to drive the psychedelics industry to the forefront of modern medicine.
Patrick is an expert in content marketing and media management and is a strategic advisor to MindBio Therapeutics.
Patrick Moher
University of Auckland
Scientific Collaborators
Suresh is an Associate Professor of Psychopharmacology in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland.
Suresh’s main research interests are in understanding how therapies alter brain activity and in developing methodologies to measure these changes in both healthy individuals and patient groups – particularly those with depression. His previous studies have involved a range of compounds including hallucinogens (ketamine, LSD, psilocybin), anaesthetics (propofol, dexmedetomidine), anti-epileptics (vigabatrin, perampanel, tiagabine) and GABA-enhancers (zolpidem, gaboxadol).
He is currently leading clinical trials investigating LSD microdosing and other new antidepressant therapies. Suresh has published over 120 scientific papers in the field of psychopharmacology and neuroimaging which have been cited over 6500 times. Suresh has received several awards including a prestigious Rutherford Discovery Fellowship and several grants from the Health Research Council of New Zealand.
Suresh Muthukumaraswamy
University Collaborator
PhD, BSc Hons