HOPE Therapeutics to buy clinic company Dura Medical

HOPE Therapeutics, an interventional psychiatry network wholly owned by NRx Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: NRXP), today announced it was buying Dura Medical per the previously announced non-binding letter of intent.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Dura Medical Founder Stephen Durand will be named director of Florida clinic operations.

Hope stressed that Dura is revenue-generating and EBITDA-positive. Dura Medical was founded in 2018 and treats mental health and chronic pain on the west coast of Florida, including ketamine treatments.  The clinics also leverage psychiatry procedures, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), Spravato and Stellate Ganglion Blocks, augmented by traditional psychiatry and therapy to provide a full continuum of care for people with depression, suicidality, PTSD, anxiety and related disorders.

“We founded Dura Medical with the mission to reduce suicide in our community and aim to treat more than 10,000 people by 2026. We’re excited to align mission with the HOPE Network and to lead HOPE’s expansion in Florida and beyond,” Durand said.

Treating veterans

Durand is a U.S. Army Reserve veteran, and Dura Medical provides for the Veterans Affairs Community Cares Network (VA CCN) under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure that military veterans have full access to these types of treatments.

“Steve Durand has been a pioneer in combining the use of psychedelic medications with neuroplastic technologies, including TMS in the treatment of suicidal depression and PTSD. We are excited to incorporate Dura’s tradition of excellence and commitment to patient care for civilians and veterans alike into HOPE’s Florida network, ” said Jonathan Javitt, MD MPH, and Matthew Duffy, co-CEOs of HOPE Therapeutics.

NRx recently announced the initiation of filing a New Drug Application for NRX-100 (IV ketamine) for the treatment of suicidal depression, based on results of well-controlled clinical trials conducted under the auspices of the U.S. National Institutes of Health and newly obtained data from French health authorities, licensed under data sharing agreements.

NRx told investors it was awarded Fast Track Designation for the development of ketamine (NRX-100) by the FDA as part of a protocol to treat patients with acute suicidality.