Israeli Biotech Develops Ketamine Analogue To Treat Major Depression With Promising Results

Israeli-based psychedelics biotech Clearmind Medicine Inc. CMND and partners Bar-Ilan University and Professor Gal Yadid from the Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center have obtained positive results from the latest preclinical trial on a next-gen psychedelic for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).

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The study evaluated the effects of novel ketamine analogue 2-FDCK, which holds a US pending patent for its use in treating depression, including Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD), on rodents’ motivation and depressive behavior.

See also: Psychedelics And Treatment-Resistant Depression: An Overview Of COMPASS' Latest Trial Outcomes

“One of our goals of working closely with leading researchers around the world is to investigate our proprietary compounds for new revolutionary treatments for addictions and mental health disorders. We are very encouraged by these preclinical data as we believe this could make a tremendous difference to patients suffering with treatment-resistant depression, who have limited options available to them,” stated Clearmind’s CEO Dr. Adi Zuloff-Shani.

The trial also aimed to test 2-FDCK as a potential novel long-term pharmacological psychoactive treatment for MDD, by treating Flinders Sensitive Line rats (an animal model of depression) with either ketamine or 2-FDCK for 14 consecutive days.

Results showed the novel compound’s high potential to safely treat both acute and chronic depression, providing a superior effect than ketamine on the depressive-like behavior of the rats. 

More specifically, both ketamine and 2-FDCK affected depressive-like symptoms. However, the effect lasted longer when using a chronic treatment paradigm only for the novel ketamine analogue.

Photo: Benzinga edit with photo by Olia Danilevich on Pexels.