What You Need To Know About MindMed's Bad LSD Trip 'Off-Switch'

Psychedelic pharmaceutical company Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. MMEDF MMED says it found an off-switch to end a bad trip.

The Toronto-based company announced it has discovered and filed a patent application for a neutralizing agent intended to stop the effects of LSD.

Earlier this month, MindMed made public its multi-year exclusive collaboration with the laboratory of Professor Dr. Matthias Liechti at University Hospital Basel in Switzerland, one of the world’s top psychedelics pharmacology and clinical research groups. Together, they are developing clinical trials to test the effectiveness of using LSD to treat anxiety disorder.

“MindMed's objective is to design better psychedelic medicines and patient experiences through innovative technologies and rigorous science,” MindMed co-CEO and co-founder JR Rahn told Benzinga.

More About The ‘Off-Switch’

MindMed and the Liechti Lab have discovered a way for experimental therapy patients who are undergoing clinical LSD testing to shorten the hallucinogenic effects of the drug during a trip. This discovery could be helpful in advancing clinical research for the drug given that one of the biggest stigmas associated with psychedelics is the potential downside of having a “bad trip.”

If health care administrators and therapists are able to better control the effects of dosing LSD in a clinical setting, thereby improving patient experiences, it’ll likely lead to better outcomes and, potentially, more funding.

"We believe working through a 'bad trip' experience can be beneficial for a patient, in some circumstances there really is a need to stop or shorten a trip experience in a medical setting,” Rahn said. “The LSD Neutralizer may eventually increase adoption by medical professionals and their patients knowing there is the potential to stop the experience if one is uncomfortable.”

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Photo courtesy of Neo Exchange Inc. and Spencer Xiong Photography.