(TheNewswire)
Highlights:
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Complementary acquisition of digitalwellness company with AUD$2.5Mcash on hand
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Digital Mind Technology has a fullyfunded Phase 1 Clinical Trial ongoing
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Adds several new high profile andleading institutional psychedelic funds as Blackhawkshareholders
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MindBio Therapeutics fully fundedPhase 2 Clinical Trials
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Blackhawk holding leading assets inlegal psychedelic and mental health therapies
Vancouver, British Columbia - TheNewswire – December 7, 2021 –Blackhawk Growth Corp. (CSE:BLR )(CNSX:BLR.CN) ( Frankfurt:0JJ) ( “ Blackhawk ”), is pleased to announce that ithas entered into a binding share purchase agreement, dated effectiveDecember 6, 2021, in which it will acquire 100% of the issued andoutstanding share capital of Digital Mind Technology Pty Ltd(“ Digital Mind ”). In consideration for theacquisition, Blackhawk will issue 8,661,290 common shares to theexisting shareholders of Digital Mind.
Blackhawk is also pleased to announce that MindBioTherapeutics is accelerating its clinical trial program and is nowfully funded for Phase 2 Clinical Trial for microdosing of psychedelic in late-stage cancer patients.MindBio will be one of a handful of companies that is progressing to aPhase 2 clinical trial in the psychedelics sector.
Digital Mind Technology is anarms-length privately held clinical trial stage company developingdigital interventions to treat mental health conditions. Itsuccessfully completed a pilot randomized controlled trial with 69patients of an online mindfulness-based program for people diagnosedwith melanoma 1 . Digital Mind’s clinical trial protocol was developed byleading scientist, Dr Russell, at a major Australianuniversity.
Dr. Russell graduated with a Master in Biochemistryfrom the University of Geneva, Switzerland. She has worked for adecade in the pharmaceutical industry managing clinical trials. Overthe years, Dr. Russell developed an interest in the psychosocialadaptation to illness and strategies to manage stress-related aspectsof diseases. Her studies in Epidemiology at the London School ofHygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK) stimulated her desire to undertakeresearch in this field.
Following this, Dr. Russell joined the psycho-oncologyresearch team at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne,Australia, evaluating supportive care interventions for peopleaffected by cancer. In 2018, Dr. Russell wasawarded her PhD from Deakin University, Australia. Coupling with herpersonal interest in mindfulness practices and her professionalexperience in psycho-oncology, Dr. Russell’s PhD research wasdesigned to determine whether a mindfulness program could benefitpeople with melanoma.
The focus of the program was to empower participants tomanage their health by promoting awareness of emotions and teachingskills to manage distressing thoughts. Central to the success of theprogram was the flexibility offered to participants to access theinformation at their own convenience. Dr Russell is dedicated toexpand from this early research to build an evidence base informingthe development of self-guided interventionspromoting the mental health of people affected by cancer and otherchronic conditions.
Digital Mind has both the intellectual property, withover 5 years of quality research intellectual property and thecapital, with approximately AUD$2.5million in working capital to fundits operations. Digital Mind will conduct Phase 1 clinical trials ofmindfulness-based digital programs for people requiring painmanagement to avoid or reduce the impact on mental health. Theclinical trials will be fully compliant with the Food and DrugAdministration’s (FDA) protocol.
Digital Mind is also working to develop digitalplatforms (Mobile, Smart Watch, and Web) that provides clinicallyproven mindfulness-based digital programs to help patients to dealwith pain. These clinical programs have the potential to be providedto patients via health professionals in a clinical setting.
Digital intervention technologies are one of thefastest growth areas in the treatment and prevention of mental healthconditions. Funding for technology companies that are developingapplications to treat behavioural, mental and brain health exceeded
US$5.3 billion to Q3 in 2021 2 .
“The acquisition of Digital Mind will help scale ourlife science and psychedelic portfolio tremendously” said FrederickPels, CEO of Blackhawk Growth. “ It will allowour psychedelic microdosing company, MindBio Therapeutics, to haveclose collaboration ties with Digital Mind for both productdevelopment and commercialization activities. Arobust digital mental health platform will form the 3 rd pillar of ourmulti-disciplinary mental health solution combining with our existingtier 1 university grade clinical research and established mentalhealth clinics. We look forward to updating our shareholders with ourprogress over the coming weeks and months as well as details of ourclinical trials shortly.”
Dr. Zena Burgess has also been appointed to DigitalMind advisory board. Dr. Burgess serves as Director of MindBioTherapeutics and is also a member of the international advisory boardof Connext2MyDoctor and the telehealthinfluencers alliance. Dr. Burgess is currently the Chief ExecutiveOfficer of the Australian Psychologists Society. Formerly, Dr. Burgesswas Chief Executive of the Royal Australian College of GeneralPractitioners. Dr. Burgess has substantial experience serving onboards of government entities.
She holds a PhD in psychology and a Master of BusinessAdministration and a Master of Education. She has a wealth ofexperience in health changes and strategic advocacy togovernments.
Digital Mind also has several high-profile shareholdersincluding some of the largest psychedelic funds who will now becomeshareholders of Blackhawk through this acquisition. They include forinstance:
Iter Investments
Iter Investments is a venture capital firm based in the USA focused onsupporting emerging companies within the psychedelic ecosystem ofbehavioral and mental health.
https://www.iterinvestments.com/
The Conscious Fund
The Conscious Fund is an early-stage venture capital firmheadquartered in London, United Kingdom. The firm seeks to invest inpsychedelics medicine.
Transaction Structure
In connection with the acquisition, Blackhawk willacquire all of the outstanding share capital of Digital MindTechnology Pty Ltd. in consideration for the completion of thetransaction, Blackhawk is required to issue 8,661,290 common shares tothe existing shareholders of Digital Mind. One-half of these shareswill be subject to restrictions on resale for a period of four monthsand one day following issuance. No finders' fees or commissions arepayable by Blackhawk in connection with the acquisition.
Blackhawk is at arm's length from Digital Mind and itsshareholders. The transaction neither constitutes a fundamental changenor a change of business for Blackhawk, nor is it expected to resultin a change of control of Blackhawk within the meaning of applicablesecurities laws and the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange.Completion of the acquisition remains subject to the satisfaction ofcustomary closing conditions. Following completion of the acquisition,Digital Mind will expand Blackhawk’s existing portfolio ofinvestments in the health care sector.
About Blackhawk Growth
Blackhawk is an investment holding company looking tocreate substantial value for its shareholders through the acquisitionand development of high growth companies. It has focused itsinvestments in the health, cannabis and cannabidiol industries in bothCanada and the United States. Its portfolio of companies includes SacPharma, LeichtMind Clinics, Noble Hemp, Spaced Food, NuWave Foods, andMindBio Therapeutics.
The Company diligently posts updates through videosfrom the official company YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs4f2tt3yAvOGhNLjgNOy-A
Please join the conversation on our Blackhawk groupsupporter’s telegram group at https://t.me/Blackhawkgrowthcorp and visit us online at https://www.blackhawkgrowth.com .
For further information please contact:
Frederick Pels, Chief ExecutiveOfficer
(403)-991-7737
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Russell, L., Whiffen, R., Chapman, L., Just, J., Dean,E., Ugalde, A. and White, S., 2021. Hospital staff perspectiveson the provision of smoking cessation care: a qualitative descriptionstudy . BMJ open, 11(5), p.e044489. DOI:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044489
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Lynch, F.A.; Katona, L.; Jefford, M.; Smith, A.B.;Shaw, J.; Dhillon, H.M.; Ellen, S.; Phipps-Nelson, J.; Lai-Kwon, J.;Milne, D.; Russell, L.; Dax, V.; Diggens, J.; Kent, H.; Button-Sloan,A.; Elliott, J.; Shackleton, M.; Burridge, H.; Ftanou, M. Feasibility andAcceptability of Fear-Less: A Stepped-Care Program to Manage Fear ofCancer Recurrence in People with MetastaticMelanoma . J. Clin. Med. 2020, 9, 2969.DOI: 10.3390/jcm9092969
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Russell, L., McIntosh, R., Martin, C., Scott J., KhengSoo W., Zappa B., Haynes K., Livingston PM. Ugalde, A. A model of cancersurvivorship care within a community health setting: the Good LifeCancer Survivorship program . Journal ofCancer Survivorship. 2019 DOI: 10.1007/s11764-019-00821-6
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Russell, L., Ugalde, A., White, V., Pitcher, M.,Jorgensen, S., Whitfield, K., ... Livingston, P. Relevance of mindfulnesspractices for Culturally And Linguistically Diverse cancerpopulations . Psycho Oncology, 2019 DOI: 10.1002/pon.5221
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Ugalde A, Haynes K, White V, Russell L, Livingston PM. “An Ambitionto Make People Feel at Home” or “The Emperor’s New Clothes”?Professional Stakeholder Views of Wellness Centres in CancerCare . European Journal of Cancer Care.2019 DOI: 10.1111/ecc.13096
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Russell L, Pascoe MC, Seymour JF, Aranda S, Butow P,Gough K, Schofield P. The trials and tribulations of conducting an m-health pilotrandomized controlled trial to improve oral cancer therapy adherence:recommendations for future multisite, non-drug clinicaltrials. BMC research notes. 2019Dec;12(1):226.
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Russell L, Ugalde A, Orellana L, Milne D, KrishnasamyM, Chambers C, Austin D and Livingston P M, A pilot randomisedcontrolled trial of an online mindfulness-based program for peoplediagnosed with melanoma , Journal ofSupportive Care in Cancer. 2018 DOI: 10.1007/s00520-018-4574-6
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Russell L, Ugalde A, Milne D, Austin D and Livingston PM, DigitalCharacteristics and Dissemination Indicators to Optimize Delivery ofInternet-Supported Mindfulness-Based Interventions for People With aChronic Condition: Systematic Review ,JMIR Mental Health. 2018 DOI: 10.2196/mental.9645
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Russell L, Ugalde A, Milne D, Krishnasamy M, Chung SeulO E, Austin D, Chambers R, Orellana L, and Livingston PM, Feasibility of an onlinemindfulness-based program for patients with melanoma: study protocolfor a randomised controlled trial ,Trials. 2018 Dec; 19(1):223
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Pereira-Salgado A, Westwood JA, Russell L, Ugalde A,Ortlepp B, Seymour JF, Butow P, Cavedon L, Ong K, Aranda S, BreenS.,… Schofield P, Mobile Health Intervention to Increase Oral Cancer TherapyAdherence in Patients With Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (The REMINDSystem): Clinical Feasibility and AcceptabilityAssessment , JMIR mHealth and uHealth.2017. DOI: 10.2196/mhealth.8349
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Russell L, Orellana L, Ugalde A, Milne D, KrishnasamyM, Chambers R, Livingston PM., Exploring Knowledge, Attitudes, and PracticeAssociated With Meditation Among Patients With Melanoma, IntegrativeCancer Therapies , 2017. DOI:10.1177/1534735417699514
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Jefford M, Gough K, Drosdowsky A, Russell L, Aranda S,Butow P, Phipps-Nelson J, Young J, Krishnasamy M, Ugalde A, King D.,… and Schofield P, A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Nurse-Led Supportive CarePackage (SurvivorCare) for Survivors of ColorectalCancer , Oncologist, 2016. DOI:10.1634/theoncologist.2015-0533
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Russell L, Gough K, Drosdowsky A, Schofield P, ArandaS, Butow PN, Westwood JA, Krishnasamy M, Young JM, Phipps-Nelson J,King D. Jefford M, , Psychological distress, quality of life, symptoms and unmetneeds of colorectal cancer survivors near the end oftreatment , Journal of CancerSurvivorship, 2015. DOI: 10.1007/s11764-014-0422-y
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Jefford M, Mann GB, Nolte L, Russell L, Brennan M., Follow-up ofWomen with Early Stage Breast Cancer .Current Breast Cancer Reports, 2014.DOI:10.1007/s12609-014-0150-3
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Jefford M, Aranda S, Gough K, Lotfi-Jam K, Butow P,Krishnasamy M, Young J, Phipps-Nelson J, Russell L, King D, SchofieldP., Evaluatinga nurse-led survivorship care package (SurvivorCare) for bowel cancersurvivors: study protocol for a randomized controlledtrial , Trials 2013. DOI:10.1186/1745-6215-14-260
Cautionary NoteRegarding Forward-Looking Statement
All statements in this pressrelease, other than statements of historical fact, are “forward-looking information”with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicablesecurities laws, including with respect to transaction and futureoperations of Digital Mind Technology Pty Ltd. The Company providesforward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying informationabout current expectations and plans relating to the future andreaders are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate forother purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherentrisks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which giverise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions,projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, thatassumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goalsand priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limitedthose identified and reported in the Company’s public filings underthe Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although the Companyhas attempted to identify important factors that could cause actualactions, events or results to differ materially from those describedin forward-looking information, there may be other factors that causeactions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated orintended. There can be no assurance that such information will proveto be accurate as actual results and future events could differmaterially from those anticipated in such statements. The Companydisclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise anyforward-looking information, whether as a result of new information,future events or otherwise unless required by law.
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