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Experience
is an engineerable
output of biology.
What we do
We're building the closed-loop science + engineering stack for rational psychoactive effect design.
Osmanthus
A molecular experience interface
Our molecular-experience interface links biology to human experience, transforming effects like clarity, presence, and motivation into quantitative design targets.
Research + development programs
Our clinical programs are a sequence of human demonstrations that psychoactive effects can be decomposed, recombined, and synthesized. Our primer + probe fixed-dose combinations provide iterative testing of target psychoactive effect profiles and advance directly to human trials.
Program timeline
* IND-enabling safety, toxicology, and DMPK package complete† Fixed-dose combination safety/PK trial in healthy volunteers, extending into patientsStatus as of Q3 2026
Programs pair the MSD-001 primer with blinded probe sequences; codes stay blinded through trial readout.
MSD-101 — First controlled study
The first controlled study of primer MSD-001 decomposed hallucinations and other effects from the broader hallucinogen profile. The next study pairs primer + probe to selectively upregulate aesthetic salience, treating anhedonia in major depressive disorder.
MSD-102+ — Parallel programs
Additional parallel programs are designed to demonstrate de novo synthesis of novel psychoactive effects.
MSD-2XX — Discovery stage
Discovery-stage programs optimize for single-molecule, multi-target action producing a broader range of psychoactive effects.
Our Team
Dillan DiNardoCo-Founder + CEO
Thomas Ray, PhDScientific Co-Founder
Rob Silva, PhDChief Scientific Officer
Tilmann Brotz, PhDHead of Preclinical Development
Ken Colley, MD, PhDMedical Director
Jianhong Wang, PhDHead of DMPK
Jessica Smith Beaver, PhD, MLSHead of Regulatory Affairs
Tom Richardson, PhDHead of Medicinal Chemistry
Jasminder SotoHead of Clinical Operations
Antonio SocorroHead of Drug Product + Formulation
Tegan JohnsonSenior Director of Operations
Michael HoyosHead of Business Development
Josie KinsPhenomenologist + AI Performance Specialist
Bethany Leins, PMPProject Manager, Drug Development
Drew Thieme, PhDCheminformatician
Ahnjili ZhuParris, PhDData Scientist
Frederick Barrett, PhDScientific Advisor
Danilo Bzdok, MD, PhDScientific Advisor
Robin Carhart-Harris, PhDScientific Advisor
David Erritzoe, MD, PhDScientific Advisor
Andrew HesselBusiness Development Advisor
Rand Hindi, PhDScientific Advisor
Andrew Newberg, MDScientific Advisor
Peter Wipf, PhDScientific Advisor
News
Follow along as AI and psychedelics become the tools for bioengineering human experience.
Experience becomes an engineering discipline
The New Science of Psychedelic Drugs
Science Has a Powerful New Tool to Unlock the Mysteries of Consciousness—And Even Help You Reach Transcendence
FDA Gives an Early Nod to Psychedelic Research
The Future of Psychedelic Medicine Will Be Drugs You’ve Never Heard Of
Are Hallucinogen Look-Alikes Illegal? DEA Delay Creates Limbo
The next era of psychedelics may be precision-designed states of consciousnessTurning psychoactive effects into a design system
A Startup Used AI to Make a Psychedelic Without the Trip
Safer Psychedelic Drugs May Be Coming
Transforming Psychedelics into Approved MedicinesTripping on Nothing
Have a safe trip! New psychedelic that won’t scare patients
Startups Are Biohacking Psychedelic Drugs to Make Sure You Never Have a Bad Trip Again
The psychedelic AI found
Mindstate Uses AI to Design “Next-Gen” Psychedelics Combined With 5-MeO-MiPT
After crunching 70k 'trip reports', Mindstate looks to test first AI-derived psychedelic on humans
What do psychedelic drugs do to our brains? AI could help us find out
Y Combinator Startup Uses AI To Design New Drug-Induced States Of ConsciousnessSilicon Valley backs the rational design of mental states
Investors See Far Out Profits in Psychedelic Medicine
Here are the 7 hottest psychedelics startups that are set to take off in 2022, according to 3 top VCs in the space
Psychedelics Provide New Frontier For Venture Funding, But Nuances Prevail
Psychedelic startup Mindstate's $11.5M trip
The Burgeoning Psychedelics Industry Is Full of Money and Good Intentions. But Can It Avoid All Of Cannabis's Mistakes?
VC money keeps flowing into psychedelics-based mental healthA Y Combinator startup that's creating a new class of psychedelics just raised $11.5 million from big Silicon Valley investors
Our favorite startups from YC’s Summer 21 Demo Day, Part 2
Updates from the lab
We write when there is something to report: new studies, papers, and program milestones.
