By The New York-based biotech company has begun a clinical trial studying LSD as a treatment for anxiety, and announced last week that it was giving hallucinogenic drugs to patients enrolled in the study for the first time. It is designed to study the efficacy of MM-120, MindMed’s pharmaceutically optimized form of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), in the treatment of anxiety disorder (GAD).
MindMed is a biopharmaceutical company that develops psychedelic therapies to treat mental disorders. The company’s chief executive officer, Robert Barrow, said the study was the largest well-controlled clinical trial of LSD ever conducted, adding that the study “will help MindMed and many patients suffering from GAD. It represents a big milestone for us,” he added.
“This exciting next step in the progress of LSD builds on the positive topline data presented by our partners at Basel University Hospital in May 2022. clinically significant effects and potential for safely alleviating symptoms of anxiety and depression.” barrow said In an Aug. 25 statement from the company. “The results of the Phase 2b trial will guide dose selection and development strategies for the pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial, providing a new potential treatment for millions of people living with GAD. I keep trying to do that.”
GAD is a chronic and sometimes debilitating mental health disorder that affects approximately 6% of adults in the United States at some point in their lives. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), symptoms of GAD include excessive anxiety and worry lasting more than six months and can cause significant impairment in social, occupational and other functioning. . Although GAD, major depressive disorder (MDD), and other serious psychiatric disorders share considerable similarities, research on this disorder has led to little innovation in treatment over the last few decades.
MindMed’s Phase 2b study is a multicenter, parallel, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-optimized study. The investigator will enroll her 200 participants who will either receive her single dose of MM-120 up to 200 micrograms or a placebo. The primary objective was to determine her reduction in anxiety symptoms four weeks after her single dose of MM-120 compared among her five groups of study participants. The primary secondary objectives of this study, measured up to 12 weeks after a single dose, included assessment of safety and tolerability, and quality of life.
A revival of LSD research
A MindMed study represents a recent resurgence in research into psychedelics as a treatment for serious mental health conditions. Journalist and educator Michael Pollan released his series How to Change Your Mind, a Netflix documentary this summer based on his 2018 book of the same name, but researchers say he In the 1950s he studied LSD as a treatment for mental disorders, and in the 60s. The tide of public opinion turned against the drug only after people started using it recreationally.
“With the strong backing of flamboyant Harvard psychology professor Timothy Leary, psychedelics escaped the lab and fell into the avid arms of the counterculture.” Paulan wrote in the wall street journal 2018.
In 1968, LSD was criminalized in the United States, nearly ending decades of drug research. However, interest in its value as psychiatry has recovered. In July of this year, the American Psychiatric Association issued a statement encouraging continued research into psychedelics as a treatment for serious mental health conditions.
“Currently, there is insufficient scientific evidence to support the use of psychedelics to treat mental disorders, except in the context of approved research studies.” APA wrote in a policy position Approved by the Board of Trustees of the Expert Group. “APA supports continued research and treatment discovery of psychedelic drugs with the same scientific integrity and regulatory standards that apply to other promising treatments in medicine.”
