Psychedelic Trip to Wellness

Psychedelics have been used throughout history for medical purposes before being classified as illicit drugs in the 1960s. But that’s changing now, psychedelic drugs are gaining widespread attention as rigorous clinical trials have demonstrated their potential as a treatment for unmet needs in mental health. What explains this renaissance, how soon we will see psychedelic drugs in the market and most importantly where does big pharma stand in this? Let’s find out.

- Ayesha Siddiqui

The US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved Johnson & Johnson’s Spravato (esketamine) in 2019 for treatment-resistant depression, the first approval of a psychedelic treatment for a psychiatric disorder in both the US and the European Union. Esketamine is derived from the anesthetic ketamine. This opened the floodgates of interest in psychedelic space. To date, two psilocybin-based drugs have received FDA breakthrough designation – UK’s COMPASS Pathways for treatment-resistant depression and US’ Usona Institute for major depressive disorder.

This, along with the fact that mental health disorders have risen exponentially but the development of novel medications has not kept pace. Drugs such as use of MDMA (3-4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine), psilocybin, and LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) are traditionally considered to be recreational but are increasingly being used in medical research.

A report from Research And Markets says that the psychedelic drugs market size is projected to reach $10.75 billion by 2027, from $4.75 billion in 2020 growing at a CAGR of 12.36 per cent during 20212027.

‘‘The whole field is advancing in industry and academia, with many new groups in neuropsychopharmacology around the world developing and using techniques from animal models, to human studies with MRI to map neural networks in order to better understand the mechanisms of action. Add to that psychotherapy research and training to better apply these methods in combination with psychoactive compounds to achieve outcomes that exceed use of the drug alone. I think that the R&D is reaching a critical mass and really impactful innovations are not so far out,’’ said Dr. Nathan Bryson, Chief Scientific Officer at Field Trip Health Canada.

Unleashing potential of psychedelics