By their nature, clinical-stage biotech companies can be volatile investments. Even by that standard, MindMed (MNMD -1.82%) is quite a risky play; after all, a key element of its business strategy is to develop brain health medications based on compounds that are illegal on the federal level in the U.S.
Threading the needle with the law
For this reason, even a modest relaxation of current laws could really benefit MindMed. It isn't cheap or easy to operate within the many restrictions imposed due to the legal status of psychedelics (these can be used for medical research purposes, however the limits are strict).
Image source: Getty Images.
That's exacerbated by the fact that the company's pre-revenue just now. So all things being equal, the more it can put the brakes on cash burn, the longer it'll survive until it can (hopefully) get one of its investigational drugs approved and shipped to the market.
At the moment, MindMed has sufficient resources to endure for at least a few years. At the end of March it had nearly $238 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments, which wasn't too much less than the previous quarter's $245 million. According to management, this plus monies for the expected achievement of certain milestones will be sufficient to fund operations into 2028 at least.
Thaw in progress
Happily, the decriminalization of psychedelics, for medical purposes anyway, enjoys plenty of support among the American public. A 2023 survey conducted by the University of California at Berkeley found that 61% of respondents approved of regulated therapeutic access to psychedelic-based medicines.
Meanwhile, in recent years certain jurisdictions relaxed their restrictions on psychedelics. Several cities, such as Denver and Washington D.C., have decriminalized psilocybin (the psychoactive compound in "magic" mushrooms).
I don't think full-blown decriminalization is around the corner in the United States. Rather, I think it'll be more an unhurried, stop-and-go process like that of marijuana law reform currently. As restrictions on its research ease, MindMed should be able to save some capital and extend its all-important runway.
