The American therapy provider Stella has acquired United States assets of Field Trip Health & Wellness, a company renowned for its chain of ketamine therapy clinics that recently filed for creditor protection due to financial troubles.
The acquisition announced on Tuesday will enhance Stella’s ability to provide psychedelic-assisted therapy with substances like ketamine through the knowledge, technology and clinics gained from Field Trip. Stella is focused on providing ketamine therapy along with other treatments for conditions such as post-traumatic stress injury (PTSI), traumatic brain injury (TBI) and neurological effects from long COVID.
“Certainly not everything played out as we had hoped with Field Trip. But I couldn’t ask for a better group to pick up the torch and continue the work we started than Stella,” said Field Trip’s Co-Founder Ronan Levy on LinkedIn Tuesday. Levy resigned from his position as the company’s CEO in March.
Stella is mainly renowned for its expertise in the Dual Sympathetic Reset (DSR) protocol, a specialized procedure that has become widely known as an effective treatment for PTSI. The company also offers a combination of the DSR protocol and ketamine therapy reserved for United States Army Special Forces members.
“By combining our collective expertise, we’re excited to pioneer innovative therapies to shape the future of mental health treatment,” said Stella’s CEO Philippe Sanchez. As part of the acquisition, the company will be taking over Field Trip’s clinics in New York City and Washington D.C.
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Stella recently opened its flagship clinic in Chicago, Illinois and announced Tuesday that it was opening another one in Irvine, California.
Field Trip’s employees Mujeeb Jafferi and Amardeep Manhas will be joining Stella’s team to serve as the Chief Technology Officer and Clinics Operation Officer as well.
“Ketamine protocols are among the most important breakthroughs for mental health and we’re excited to integrate our years of clinical research and patient outcomes with Stella’s DSR protocol and psychotherapy,” said Jafferi, Founder and former President of Field Trip.
Field Trip separated its Field Trip Health and Field Trip Discovery divisions into two separate public companies last year, with Field Trip Health being rebranded as Field Trip Health & Wellness and Field Trip Discovery being renamed as Reunion Neuroscience Inc. (NASDAQ: REUN) (TSX: REUN).
Reunion struggled to maintain Nasdaq listing requirements during the early months of 2023 and received a letter from the exchange’s Listing Qualifications Department in mid-April saying that the company had 30 days to meet those requirements before further action would be taken. The company then announced in early June that it would be acquired by MPM BioImpact by the end of Q3 this year for US$13 million following failed expenditure reduction measures and financial optimization attempts.
Reunion’s shares dropped by 87 per cent between April 2022 and the time it received the letter from the exchange and were worth approximately US$0.75. Field Trip Health suspended trading of its shares in March and they were transferred to the NEX Board of the TSX Venture Exchange.
Reunion Neuroscience shares rose by 0.91 per cent Wednesday however to US$1.11 on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange.
rowan@mugglehead.com
