MINDCURE Health is a pharmaceutical company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded in 2020, MINDCURE researches psychedelic compounds as mental health treatments and develops digital therapeutics technology. In the company’s words, “MINDCURE identifies, innovates, and commercializes new methods to promote Mental Wealth™.”
Research
MINDCURE’s research efforts are active in two main initiatives: The Desire Project (TDP) and The Ibogaine Project. The Desire Project aims to address the unwanted lack of sexual desire in women and its accompanying emotional distress through MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. Often diagnosed as Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, this issue has been historically neglected by healthcare systems. As quoted on TDP’s webpage, Founder & CEO Kelsey Ramsden stated,
MDMA has enormous potential beyond PTSD, and we hope to create a care paradigm whereby MDMA-assisted psychotherapy becomes common practice for women suffering from decreased desire. The empathogenic nature of the psychedelic allows for a healing experience in women, whose access to desire may be more rooted in the mind than body.
The Desire Project is led by Dr. Joel Raskin, MINDCURE’s Chief Medical Officer. Its team is staffed by female sexual desire experts and Dr. Jennifer Mitchell, Ph.D., who was the lead author for MAPS’ MDMA for PTSD phase 3 clinical trial.1
Through the Ibogaine Project, MINDCURE manufactures synthetic, pharmaceutical grade ibogaine for researchers and clinicians. Ibogaine has several therapeutic applications including addiction, headache disorders, neuropathic pain, and treatment-resistant mood disorders. MINDCURE’s initiative provides a sustainable source of the psychedelic compound, which is traditionally sourced from the critically endangered iboga shrub.
Technology
iSTRYM is MINDCURE’s digital therapeutics application designed to facilitate psychedelic therapy from session preparation through integration. Automated and customized, it provides separate dashboards for clients and clinicians, offering advanced data capture and real-time data analytics, mindfulness exercises, and music playlists, among other features. Clinicians also get access to therapy protocols and integration plans. Ramsden presented about iSTRYM at SANA Symposium 2021. In October 2021, MINDCURE announced an agreement to provide AWAKN Life Sciences a protocol for its ketamine-assisted psychotherapy for alcohol use disorder, which will be delivered through iSTRYM.
MINDCURE hosts a podcast called MIND CURIOUS and a blog on its website.