Biotech player Small Pharma, Inc. announced further positive results from its Phase IIa trial of SPL026, the first placebo-controlled study of a short-duration psychedelic for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).

The trial investigated the efficacy and safety of a 21.5mg intravenous dose of SPL026 (N, N-Dimethyltryptamine [“DMT”]) with supportive therapy in 34 patients with moderate to severe MDD.

Analyses of additional secondary and exploratory endpoints, including effects on self-reported depression, anxiety, and wellbeing, demonstrated that patients receiving at least a single dose of IV SPL026 with supportive therapy experienced clinically relevant improvements in function and mood, further supporting previously announced topline efficacy results.

Here’s more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/small-pharma-announces-further-positive-123000805.html

In a rare show of bipartisan support, Cory Booker and Rand Paul filed an updated version of a bill to streamline the federal rescheduling of “breakthrough therapies” like psilocybin and MDMA in order to promote research and drug development.

The legislation proposes to amend the federal Controlled Substances Act, in part by creating a procedure through which current Schedule I drugs that are deemed breakthrough therapies by the Food and Drug Administration, or qualify for a waiver under the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, could be transferred to a lower schedule that would make them easier to study and promote drug development.  

Check it out: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/cory-booker-and-rand-paul-file-revised-bill-to-reschedule-psychedelic-breakthrough-therapies/

Psilocybin has shown long-lasting antidepressant effects in preclinical and clinical trials, but the mechanisms responsible are unclear.

As both passive coping strategies and pattern separation deficits are characteristics of major depression, researchers decided to use adult rats subjected to adolescent chronic restraint stress to investigate the effects of psilocybin on forced swim tests and object pattern separation behaviors 5 weeks after a single administration.

Here’s what they discovered: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/psymed.2022.0012

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Did you know that Cary Grant turned to LSD in an effort to resolve childhood trauma?  

One of Hollywood’s most famous leading actors credited LSD with resolving years of issues around what he called “searching for peace of mind.” With the help of Dr. Mortimer Hartman at the Psychiatric Institute of Beverly Hills, Grant took part in roughly 100 LSD-assisted therapy sessions over the course of four years. Check it out: https://www.magellantv.com/articles/tripping-with-cary-grant-lsd-and-therapy-in-the-1950s-60s--and-today