Tactogen

I’m investing in Tactogen because they have made great progress in designing and developing novel entactogens, and are simultaneously applying a novel business/funding structure. Tactogen has a deep appreciation for the role of community and connection in healing and wellness. If successful, Tactogen could support healing in many people and improve health equity writ large. I am excited about this journey, and hope that other companies in our young sector will take note.

-Dr. Victoria Hale, MacArthur Genius Grant recipient and the former Chairwoman of MAPS.org, lead investor for Tactogen's community stakeholder initiative.

The Tactogen Wefunder Deck

Who We Are

We’re Tactogen. We’re a public benefit corporation creating accessible, transformative medicines.

Our team is made up of scientists, researchers, and activists who have done deep work in the psychedelic community for decades. We’re founded by Genentech data science leader and Ph.D. neuroscientist Matthew Baggott and entrepreneur Luke Pustejovsky, bringing over 30 years of experience in the field to this pivotal moment for psychedelic-related medicines.

Matthew began his career in preclinical pharmacology before moving into clinical psychopharmacology, where he was responsible for obtaining permission from regulators including FDA and DEA for clinical trials. Matthew was part of the first group to receive federal funding to administer MDMA to healthy volunteers and later led studies administering MDA and other psychedelics to people. Among other projects, Matthew wrote large sections of the documents submitted by MAPS to FDA to start the first patient studies with MDMA in the US.

We believe in treating community members as partners. Individuals and communities that have put their lives on the line for decades in support of the psychedelic movement should be recognized as stakeholders in the development of this industry. We decided to use Wefunder for part of our fundraising to develop our community stakeholder initiative. We believe that stakeholders should have the opportunity to become shareholders and benefit from whatever success we have. 

What are Entactogens?

Entactogens are a class of medicine that, unlike classic psychedelics, don't stretch or dissolve one's sense of self. Instead, they appear to increase self-compassion and acceptance, which can accelerate psychotherapeutic progress.

In a recent study with MDMA, the best known entactogen, 67% of PTSD patients improved so much they no longer had measurable PTSD at the end of the study. These results show what is possible with this new class of medicine.

Other data suggest entactogens may help to treat anxiety, substance use disorders, and relationship difficulties, to name just a few conditions. The potential to improve quality of life and relieve suffering across many conditions is enormous.

Our goal is bringing medicines to market that have the essential emotional benefits of MDMA while having fewer of its unwanted, off-target effects. We’re seeking medicines with safety profiles that allow therapeutic use outside of the clinic, such as at home or in nature.

We believe that gentler entactogens will have numerous possible uses, including facilitating psychotherapy, decision-making, and psychological growth.

Why Wefunder?

First, we are raising money from the community because we believe community stakeholders should have the opportunities to help shape the future of healthcare and to benefit from our value creation.

Second, we are working with Wefunder, a public benefit corporation, because we prioritize working with organizations who share our commitment to positive social change.

"Involving community members in the development of entactogens is critical for the future of collective healing and economic justice. I have a great deal of trust in the ethics and intentions of the folks involved with Tactogen. Thanks for extending this invitation beyond the traditional investing community. That shows true leadership. May many lives be changed and healed through this work. Onward!"

- Rebecca Martinez, Founder & Executive Director of Alma Institute.

Our Progress

We have multiple leading candidate molecules that are ready to advance into safety and toxicity studies. Safety and toxicity studies (also known as IND-enabling studies) are now required to demonstrate to FDA's satisfaction that the molecules are safe enough to give to people. Completing these studies will allow us to begin clinical trials with the best molecule(s) in mid 2023.

To get to where we are, Tactogen created a drug discovery platform focused on entactogens. We use this platform to predict the pharmacological profile of molecules. We synthesize the most promising and characterize them, using the resulting proprietary data to improve predictive performance of our platform. Crucially, we have trained cohorts of rats to identify MDMA-like compounds, allowing us to legally validate our discovery platform. We have measured pharmacokinetics and run toxicology assays on select compounds to identify the leading candidates. This drug development has occurred in parallel with filing patent applications that secure and expand our IP portfolio.

What Funds Have Been Raised?

We have raised $6.3 million via SAFEs (simple agreements for future equity) since early 2020. We have used these resources to develop new molecules, confirm their effects and file patent applications.

What will the Funds be Used For?

Safety and toxicity studies can take as much as one million dollars per molecule. We’re budgeting $2-4 million. Any additional funds that are raised will go towards our clinical trials, further drug discovery, and community initiatives.

What Makes This Unique

We’re the first drug development company in this sector that we know of to open our doors to non-accredited investors (that means you!). We want to include the community early on to participate in the value creation process.

We aim to include all those who will be affected by the development of psychedelics and related medicines. We’d like therapists, healers, nurses, physicians, scholars, researchers, activists, students, and patients (whether current or future) to all feel welcome as shareholders and participants in Tactogen.

In our continued practice of community inclusion, we will provide regular updates on Tactogen and how to get involved. We are committed to accessibility in all its forms, and this includes ensuring that knowledge of our progress is widely available.

Join us in creating affordable entactogen medicines that can improve the quality of life for millions of people. If you believe in our mission, and want to have an equity stake in our journey, we’d love to have you.

The offering materials may contain forward-looking statements and information relating to, among other things, Tactogen Inc (hereby referred to as Tactogen), its business plan and strategy, and its industry. These forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of, assumptions made by, and information currently available to Tactogen’s team.

These statements reflect the team’s current views with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause Tactogen actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. Tactogen does not undertake any obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after such date or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.