Investing in the Frontiers of Brain and Mental Health Innovation

With Greg Kubin from PsyMed Ventures

TRANSCRIPT

Greg Kubin: PsyMed Ventures is an early stage fund investing in frontier brain and mental health technologies. I'm based in New York, and my partner Mathias is based in the Bay area.

CMHI: And tell us a little bit about some of the areas within mental health that you think are investable now.

Greg Kubin: So one way to say what's investable is to say what I have invested in, you know, money is where your mouth is. And so, I'm really excited about neuro technologies and brain computer interfaces. So there's two approaches. There's the non-invasive and the invasive. On the non-invasive side, are able to basically create devices that can both monitor and stimulate the brain with precision. So one company we invested in is called Neurode And they're focused on focus and attention and ultimately ADHD.

So what they've developed is a device that is able to monitor blood flow changes in the prefrontal cortex, the front of the brain, and basically determine when you are losing focus and interest, and then using electrical stimulation to send gentle stim to enable you to regain your attention. And this could be for 20 minutes a day so you do not have to wear it all the time. The initial users are basically saying that their ability to focus is improving dramatically and they're using the product. So there's retention which is always critical.

CMHI: And assessing a device or hardware and just do something like that. Do you imagine that would be a direct consumer pay a business model?

Greg Kubin: So their strategy is they believe that the demand is strong enough that they are initially going to market direct to consumer and then they're going to build enough of a data package that they will be able to use that to then send to FDA.

CMHI: And so just to carry on with that example, as an investor, what are you thinking in terms of trajectory returns timeline?

Greg Kubin: Yeah. Well, we invested at the Pre-Seed with Khosla Ventures. We think that this company could be a fund returner or a multi-billion dollar outcome. Ultimately, and that's predicated on the fact that there are roughly 15 million, at least Americans that are on stimulants, many, most of whom actually are experiencing side effects and don't want to be on them.

But when you actually look at the broader population, let's be honest, we're all kind of experiencing lack of attention and focus all the time now. And I think that there's a huge subclinical population that would be willing to pay for something like this out of pocket.

CMHI: Are there any areas that you think are very exciting that you got your eye on that you think are not quite investable yet?

Greg Kubin: Yes. So one area is called mitochondrial transplantation. Okay. What am I talking about? Mitochondria are, they do many things, but they they're within cells and they provide energy for cells, but they also provide immune response protection and basically have like 30 different functions within cells. What we have found is that for many disease states, mitochondria are dysfunctional.

They're basically no longer able to do their job within the cell, providing energy ,or protecting it effectively. And so there are there's a whole body of research basically showing that if you transplant mitochondria from a healthy donor to a someone who's sick or diseased you can basically rejuvenate the mitochondria and therefore heal the cell.

And so, I was actually just at the first inaugural mitochondrial transplantation conference which was a collection of people from academia and industry. And, I was one of two investors there to show how early it is. And I believe that in the next couple of years it's going to become a really exciting area, but there's still a little bit more of the basic science that needs to be figured out before it becomes the next big thing.

CMHI: Anyone else who is finding this as fascinating as I am? What are the resources, top tips you give to someone wanting to get started. But I know, for example, you also have your own podcast so point people in the right direction so they can keep following.

Greg Kubin: So my podcast is called Business Trip. We interview founders and researchers and investors on the frontiers of brain health and mental health. So it's a good resource to get started, so to speak. I think it really depends on where your interests lie. Like, I, this is a nerdy answer, but like, I love PubMed, which is basically where scientists publish their research in journals. I kind of have to, like, really care to get deeper into this side of things.

You know, decide if that's for you. I would say outside of that is, it really depends. Like, are you interested in the microbiome? Are you interested in neurodegenerative disease? There are I, I'm a podcaster, so there are specific podcasts about each of these domains that I listen to Mark Hyman, for example, who founded a company called Function Health, he has a podcast about preventative medicine. So you could look up his past episodes and learn about neuroinflammation or learn about the effect of food on your brain health and gut health stuff of that nature. So podcasts is where I like to hang out.

CMHI: Greg, you’re a legend. Thank you so, so much.

Greg Kubin: Thank you.