Today marks the launch of Norrsken Mind: Psychedelic Science Initiative, a Swedish foundation focused on supporting research on psychedelic substances and their potential to treat mental health disorders. A total of SEK 36 million has been committed by Norrsken Foundation (30 MSEK), Huxley Foundation (3 MSEK) and Nordlander Zeidler Family Foundation (3 MSEK). Norrsken Mind will fund a study at Karolinska Institutet to investigate the cognitive and neurobiological changes associated with psilocybin-assisted therapy, which may offer insights into the neurobiology of major depressive disorder and the therapeutic mechanisms of psilocybin. Norrsken Mind has also granted partial funding to a study under planning at Umeå University to investigate MDMA-assisted psychotherapy as a treatment for depression in young adults (aged 18-25).

Public agencies and authorities across the world, such as the European Medicines Agency¹, are increasingly recognizing that psychedelic-assisted therapies look promising to tackle several mental health conditions. Despite extensive international research, Sweden is far behind on both psychedelic research and treatment competence.

Norrsken Mind is a new foundation that will support research to further investigate the potential of psychedelic-assisted treatments and enable Sweden to catch up in this area of research.

“Research on psychedelic-assisted treatments is one of the most promising lines of research in the field of psychiatry right now. While there are several important mental health treatments today, they are in many cases insufficient, and we need to explore new ways forward. There are plenty of interested researchers in Sweden and across Europe, and with the right funding and conditions in place, we can help them investigate more effective treatment options, accelerate psychedelic research, and ensure that Sweden does not stay behind the rest of the world,” says Emma Christersson, Managing Director of Norrsken Mind.

“The most important factor in developing more effective mental health treatments is high-quality research, and that requires substantial capital. Through this initiative, we aim to generate more funding to catalyse more much-needed research in this area. Norrsken has previously made donations to fund research on psilocybin-assisted therapy for depression and invested in the psychedelic field. Over the past few years, our conviction of the importance of investing in mental health has only increased. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that psychedelic-assisted treatments can be used to treat a variety of mental health disorders,” says Funda Sezgi, Co-CEO of Norrsken Foundation.

The launch of Norrsken Mind makes more than SEK 30 million available to support research and other projects in this field, with an ambition to raise more funds over the coming years. Norrsken Mind will support researchers in further investigating the treatment potential of psychedelics through fundraising, grant opportunities and by facilitating international collaborations. We will also engage with healthcare professionals and mental health stakeholders to provide information and education on psychedelic research, and intend to support efforts to create better conditions for conducting research.

Norrsken Mind will initially focus on funding research in Sweden and in the near-term broaden its scope to cover research in other European countries as well. Norrsken Mind is today announcing two grants amounting to approximately SEK 7 million to two studies:

●  At Karolinska Institutet, a research team led by Predrag Petrovic, Associate Professor at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet, will investigate the cognitive and neurobiological changes associated with psilocybin-assisted therapy, which may offer insights into the neurobiology of major depressive disorder and the therapeutic mechanisms of psilocybin. The study will analyze data gathered from PSIPET, a study that investigated psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for depression at Karolinska Institutet.

●  Norrsken Mind has granted partial funding to a study under planning at Umeå University to investigate MDMA-assisted psychotherapy as a treatment for depression in young adults (aged 18-25). Eva Henje, Associate Professor at Umeå University’s Department of Clinical Science, Child- and Adolescent Psychiatry, will lead the study. The study could become the first of its kind in Sweden to investigate MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.

There has been limited progress in developing more effective treatments over the past decades. During that time, the costs resulting from mental health conditions have continued to increase and estimates indicate that the annual global costs could amount to USD 6 trillion by 2030². There is little to indicate that this trend will be halted in the near term.

Promising results emerging from psychedelic research over the past few years have led many to feel hopeful. However, more research is needed to determine the potential risks and effectiveness of psychedelic-assisted treatments. Given the global urgency of the issue of mental health, it is paramount to further investigate psychedelics and establish if and how they can be used as treatments.

Contact information

Emma Christersson
Managing Director, Norrsken Mind
Emma@norrskenmind.org

Marcus Stråth
Head of Communication, Norrsken Mind
Marcus@norrskenmind.org
+46 733 904 760

About Norrsken Mind

Norrsken Mind is a foundation focused on supporting research on psychedelic substances and their potential to treat mental health disorders through fundraising and grant opportunities. Our goal is to catalyse more research in Sweden and across Europe to improve the understanding of psychedelic-assisted treatments, as well as to inform and engage with mental health stakeholders through education and training efforts. Norrsken Mind is a continuation of Osmond Foundation, which funded the first Swedish modern clinical trial using psilocybin-assisted therapy to treat depression at Karolinska Institutet.

About Norrsken

Norrsken is an impact ecosystem where entrepreneurs can find everything they need to make saving the world their business. Our work stems from a belief in entrepreneurship and new technology as forces that can positively impact the world.

We run award-winning Norrsken House hubs in Stockholm, Sweden, Kigali, Rwanda and (soon) Barcelona, Spain. Norrsken’s five funds have raised >500m USD to back exceptional entrepreneurs who combine profit with positive global impact: Norrsken VC, Norrsken22, Norrsken Accelerator, Norrsken Launcher and Norrsken Africa Seed Fund.

Norrsken is a non-profit, non-partisan and non-religious foundation. It was founded by Niklas Adalberth, co-founder of payment services unicorn Klarna.

‍References

1. Steffen Thirstrup, Chief Medical Officer at European Medicines Agency (2023). A second chance to psychedelics. Linkedin. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/second-chance-psychedelics-european-medicines-agency/    

2. The Lancet Global Health. Mental health matters. Lancet Glob Health. 2020 Nov;8(11):e1352. doi:10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30432-0. PMID: 33069297; PMCID: PMC7561290.

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