Transcend Therapeutics closed a $40 million Series A funding round with significant support from Alpha Wave Global and Integrated Investment Partners.

Founded in 2021 and incubated by leading early-stage VS AlleyCorp, the next-generation psychoactive drug company has raised nearly $42 million to date and expects to use the new funding to launch multiple clinical trials, including a Phase 2 trial of its lead compound .

As a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), Transcend has pledged 10% of its founding shares to nonprofit organizations dedicated to scientific research and patient access.

Rather than focusing on classic psychedelics, Transcend focuses on the psychoactive compound methylene; the protected name is TSND-201.

See also: Psychoactive Biotech Startup Receives $30M Series A Funding for Novel Drug Discovery Engine

This next-generation compound has short-acting and mild psychological effects and therefore requires less clinical time. It can potentially be used as an add-on treatment to existing pharmacotherapies, making it suitable for integration into the existing psychiatric paradigm and healthcare infrastructure.

Remarkably, TSND-201 contains previous human experience, i.e. real data in the treatment of patients with PTSD, and shows robust responses.

“Mental illness is a leading cause of disability in the United States and worldwide, but available treatments are ineffective for many patients, can take weeks to work, and often have chronic side effects. At Transcend, we’re working to change that, beginning with the commercialization of a next-generation compound, methylone, as a potentially fast-acting, disease-modifying, non-hallucinogenic treatment for neuropsychiatric disorders such as PTSD,” said co-founder and CEO Blake Mandell.

Kevin Ryan, co-founder/chairman of Transcend and founder/CEO of AlleyCorp, says current advances in mental health care parallel those of the internet in 1996.

“Even the most hopeful people underestimate its impact on the…