Psychedelic Drug Trip Improves Symptoms of Depression for Six Months tech news

A psychedelic drug that provides trips lasting half an hour improves symptoms of moderate to severe depression for up to six months, early study results suggest.

Biotechnology company Small Pharma announced the results of its Phase 2a clinical trials evaluating the effects of a pharmaceutical-grade formulation of dimethyltryptamine (SPL026) on major depressive disorder, known simply as depression.

The drug is a powerful hallucinogen found in several plants and is the psychoactive compound found in ayahuasca, a compound used in shamanic rituals in South America.

In the study, 34 patients received the drug during a clinical session with supportive therapy.

The individual sessions lasted less than two and a half hours and included a preparatory session with a therapist, a post-medication psychedelic experience (with the therapist present) lasting less than 30 minutes, and a therapy session to help patients process their journey.

According to data from the study, 64% of patients who achieved remission within three months of taking the drug maintained remission for up to six months.

Robin Carhart-Harris, director of the Department of Psychedelics at the Weill Institute for Neurosciences at the University of California San Francisco, who is also the Ralph Metzner Distinguished Professor of Neurology, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, said: “These data show that SPL026 can induce a rapid effective antidepressant response that appears to persist in several cases.

“Recent imaging and preclinical findings indicate a regenerative effect of DMT and other related serotonergic agonists.”

The study evaluated the efficacy and safety of 21.5 mg of SPL026 administered intravenously with supportive therapy in 34 patients with moderate or severe depression.

The study was conducted in two phases – the first aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a single dose of SPL026 with supportive therapy compared to placebo.

And in the second case, patients received SPL026 treatment and were followed up in the study for an additional three months.

They were followed up to six months after the second off-study phase, allowing further assessment of the durability of the antidepressant effect.

A total of 25 patients from both treatment groups completed the six-month patient follow-up.

According to non-peer-reviewed results announced Tuesday, 14 of those patients had initially achieved remission (considered no depression or very mild depression) within the three-month study period.

Nine of these individuals achieved remission at six months.

dr Carol Routledge, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, said: “With our ongoing analysis of the Phase IIa study data, we are increasingly encouraged by the treatment potential of SPL026.

“A single dose in conjunction with therapy demonstrated a rapid and robust antidepressant effect at one week.

“These new data show that the antidepressant effect lasted for six months in two-thirds of patients who were in remission earlier in the study.

“As we finalize the design of the Phase IIb study, these data will help inform our understanding of the durability of treatment and our approach to re-treating patients within the study.”

George Tziras, Chief Executive of Small Pharma, said: “We are pleased to see that participants in our study experienced sustained relief from their depression over a longer period of time.

“Given these clinical results from one or two treatments, this could offer further potential value for healthcare systems facing challenges with patients struggling to stick to their daily antidepressant regimen.”

dr James Rucker, consultant psychiatrist and senior clinical lecturer at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), said: “Phase 2a trials generally cannot tell us if a treatment is effective, but they can point the way.” for this pave further attempts that may. This is the case here.

“At first glance, these data are encouraging. However, this part of the study does not include a comparison group, so it is not possible to assess whether the participants may have improved for reasons unrelated to the drug and the therapy provided.

“It is important to note that when looking at all of the participants who participated in this portion of the study, the majority were not in remission.

“This is not uncommon in studies of major depression and supports the observation that major depression is a multifactorial problem that is responsive to psychological and social as well as biological treatments.

“This work provides a good basis for further, more rigorous studies of DMT given in conjunction with psychotherapy for people suffering from major depression.”

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