Incannex’s psychedelics focused subsidiary, Psychennex, believes that it has the best team of experts to capture the emerging opportunities in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.

Medicinal cannabis and psychedelic therapies company, Incannex Healthcare (ASX:IHL), has provided the market with an update on its subsidiary, Psychennex.

Psychennex is a psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy company that’s  pioneering the Australian psychedelics sector via its clinical research programs and service delivery through its Clarion Clinics Group.

The company holds all of Incannex’s psychedelic assets in one place – which include PsiGAD Clinical Trials, MOVER License, as well as all future psychedelic clinical trials.

Psychennex is expected to open its first Clarion Clinic in Melbourneʼs inner-northern suburb of Abbotsford in Q3 this year.

The model clinic will serve as a prototype for the companyʼs planned rapid roll-out of further clinics. While being a prototype, the clinic will be run at a commercial scale and is a significant business in its own right.

The opening is part of Incannex’s strategy to become one of the first movers to take advantage of a landmark decision by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

Earlier in February, TGA said that from July 1st this year, medicines containing the psychedelic substances psilocybin and MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine) can be prescribed by authorised psychiatrists in Australia for treating depression and PTSD.

That decision has made Australia the first country in the world to recognise psychedelics as medicines.

More psychedelic clinics planned

Looking ahead, Clarion Clinics  plans to open multiple psychedelic-assisted  psychotherapy clinics in Australia and overseas.

The plan is to serve the Australian market, which is anticipated to be more than $2 billion per annum, with the global market being closer to $60 billion.

The company is ramping up to open up to 10 owned clinics as quickly as possible, due to expected “pent up” demand for such a service amongst patients resistant to existing treatments such as anti-depressants.

The ultimate target is to open 80+ clinics, using a combination of franchised and licensed business models.

At each step, the company will decide whether owning or licensing/franchising the clinics is the better option, based on speed to market, financial returns and management capability.

Incannex also seeks to open in geographies around the world where population is large and  legislation allows.

The decision to open at a particular location will be dictated by the regulatory and competitive environment of target geographies.

A strong team of experts

Psychennex has an exclusive, perpetual, global license over ground-breaking virtual reality technology developed at the BrainPark in Monash University.

This technology will be used in conjunction with psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy by providing triggering stimuli in a controlled manner.

Psychennex is also putting together a strong team of experts, and says that there is no other team with the same academic and hands-on experience in the psychedelics field in Australia.

“There are very few experienced psychedelic-assisted psychotherapists in Australia, and the team we are assembling includes many of the most experienced practitioners in the country,” said Sean O’Carroll, Lead Psychotherapist and Trainer at Monash.

“We take this responsibility seriously, and are uniquely placed to support the emergence of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy as a safe and efficacious new treatment modality.”

A number of providers, motivated by the TGA ruling, have said they will enter the market for psychedelic- assisted psychotherapy.

While Incannex believes that competition will be good for the industry, the company is confident that its world class team have the edge and experience in this field.

This article was developed in collaboration with Incannex Healthcare, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.