These 18 Clinical Trials Could Shape The Future Of The Psychedelics Industry

In the nascent industry of medical psychedelics, drug development is the name of the game.

This subset of biotech, poised to become a $100 billion industry according to Canaccord Genuity, bases its success on the regulation and approval of scheduled psychoactive substances for mental health and other health indications.

While there are over 100 different clinical trials looking at the therapeutic potential of drugs like ecstasy, LSD, ketamine and magic mushrooms currently underway, our colleagues at Insider identified 18 key trials “that could shape the future of the psychedelics industry by providing crucial information about whether compounds such as psilocybin and MDMA work as medical treatments.”

Last year, Benzinga partnered with Psychedelics Alpha to publish a list of the most critical clinical trials underway at that time using psychedelic drugs.

In this recent research, Dr. Catherine Schuster-Bruce and Yeji Jesse Lee built an interactive list of 18 clinical trials in phase 2 and phase 3 that have already started dosing patients.

Research Methodology

"At first, we were thinking of creating an internal tracker just for us to keep tabs on the industry and better report on developments in the space, but we realized that having something public would be helpful to a lot of people out there,” says Lee, a journalist covering psychedelics and cannabis at Insider.

Along with fellow healthcare reporter and Dr. Schuster-Bruce, MD., the duo decided to scour press releases, clinicaltrial.gov and other resources to figure out which companies were doing what in the industry, and more importantly, which ones were frontrunners in the drug development process. 

“The 18 trials in our tracker are the only trials in the space that have actually dosed a patient in a mid or late-stage trial —meaning they're beginning to see how effectively the drug works to treat different illnesses,” says Lee.

While there's a ton of research going on in the early stages too, the reporters wanted to give themselves a focus and this cutoff made the most sense. More clinical trials will be included in the trackers as they advance into phase 2.

A key asset provided by Insider’s tracker, Lee stressed, is that it includes information gathered from direct conversations with the companies and organizations behind these trials.

“While some of the information in our tracker is publically available — in corporate presentations, research papers, and other documents — there are also some key details here that the average reader wouldn't have access to,” Lee told Benzinga.

These include a timeline for approval, capital raised for some of the private companies and whether the trials have actually begun dosing patients.

Insider’s Psychedelic Clinical Trial Tracker

The tracker includes trials on:

• MDMA
• Ketamine
• Psilocybin
• Ibogaine
• LSD
• DMT
• 5-MeO-DMT

Indications include:

• Alcohol use disorder
• Treatment-resistant depression
• Opiate withdrawal syndrome
• PTSD
• Social anxiety in autistic adults
• Anxiety with a life-threatening illness
• Generalized anxiety disorder
• Levodopa-induced dyskinesia
• Acute suicidal ideation and behavior
• Major depressive disorder
• Binge eating disorder

And they’re being performed by these companies and organizations: 

• Awakn Life Sciences AWKNF
• B.More (private company)
• Braxia Scientific BRAXF
• Compass Pathways CMPS
• DemeRx (private company)
• GH Research GHRS
• HMNC Brain Health (private company)
• MAPS (NGO)
• MindMed MNMD
• Perception Neuroscience, a subsidiary of Atai Life Sciences ATAI
• Pharmather PHRRF
• Seelos Therapeutics SEEL
• Small Pharma DMTTF
• Tryp Therapeutics TRYPF
• Usona Institute (NGO)

Look HERE for a full version of Insider’s Psychedelic Clinical Trial Tracker.