Natasha V. Sumner – Husch Blackwell

A co-founder and co-leader of the firm’s Psychedelics and Emerging Therapies Practice Group, Natasha advises clients on the regulatory matters inherent in new drug development. She also advises behavioral health clients on compliance matters.

Natasha approaches her practice with great passion for the promise of psychedelics and other new drugs. She is well-versed in historical and current psychedelic research, including recent FDA-approved studies on MDMA and psilocybin use for mental health and end-of-life issues, the legalization and decriminalization of psylocibin in numerous cities and states, and biotech and pharmaceutical research. She’s enthusiastic about the potential of these drugs to treat and potentially cure a variety of mental health needs, and she’s fascinated by the drug development process. Natasha is motivated to help clients help the world, and she’s equally dedicated to ensuring that underrepresented communities have access to new treatments.

Natasha supports clients throughout the entire process of drug development, from early research to clinical trial permission to final approval for supplying a drug to the public. She has assisted clients in securing the necessary approvals to research controlled Schedule 1 substances, advised on the establishment and launch of studies and formal clinical trials, and assisted with new drug applications to the FDA. Natasha has a particular interest in the research and clinical trial processes—she was first bitten by the psychological research bug as an undergraduate psychology major, and she enjoys nothing more than diving deep into a client’s project and considering confounding factors and the challenge of adequate placebos. Her experience includes work with the country’s leading researchers on MDMA.

After witnessing individuals close to her struggle with mental health issues for which no effective treatments exist, Natasha has come to care deeply about behavioral and mental health and is personally invested in helping developers get new drugs to the public. She also has experience working with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), 42 CFR Part 2, and other federal privacy requirements as well as state laws pertaining to behavioral health and the practice of medicine. Her dedication to and passion for the behavioral health world set her apart, and she is highly knowledgeable about current research and the science behind it. Clients value her great desire to learn and her eagerness to understand as much as possible about their drug developments and the research that drives them.