Shares of Cybin Inc. (NYSE American: CYBN) (NEO: CYBN) shot up by approximately 40 per cent on Monday following news of billionaire Steve Cohen’s hedge fund taking an 8.1 per cent stake in the company.
His firm Point 72 Asset Management now holds 18.95 million common shares of Cybin, a figure revealed in a United States Securities and Exchange Commission Schedule 13G form filing from Thursday. These forms are mandatory when buying more than 5 per cent of a public company’s shares in the U.S. and this is the first investment in a psychedelic medicine company made by the firm.
At their current market value of US$0.44 on the NYSE American exchange, that amount of common shares is worth approximately US$8.34 million.
Point 72 was founded by Cohen in 2016 and currently has US$30.6 billion in assets under management. The firm employs over 2,500 people throughout the globe.
The news follows the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, founded by Cohen and his wife in 2001, providing the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies with US$5 million for its research on MDMA-assisted therapy in June. MAPS recently published groundbreaking results from its Phase III clinical trial on the drug in the journal Nature Medicine.
Read more: MDMA-assisted therapy significantly reduces moderate to severe PTSD symptoms
Read more: Cybin inks agreement to acquire DMT drug developer Small Pharma
Cybin announced at the end of August that it is acquiring the DMT drug developer Small Pharma Inc. (TSX-V: DMT) (OTCQB: DMTTF), which will result in a combined company with one of the largest intellectual property portfolios in the industry.
The company recently dosed its final group of patients in a study examining the effects of its CYB003 psilocybin analogue and expects to have conclusive efficacy data on the drug by the end of the year.
The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation has contributed over US$31.3 million to psychedelics research through various grants from its Psychedelic Research & Health Initiative.
Cybin is a member of Psychedelics Canada, a non-profit trade association made up of several companies representing the industry. Other member companies and significant influences in the sector include Filament Health Corp. (OTCQB: FLHLF) (NEO: FH), PharmAla Biotech Holdings Inc. (CSE: MDMA) (OTCQB: PMBHF) and Psyched Wellness (CSE: PSYC) (OTC Pink: DCNPF).
rowan@mugglehead.com
