Compass Pathways Explores AI-Powered Predictive Model On Psilocybin Therapy For Depression

COMPASS Pathways plc CMPS shared the results from research on the potential of its novel AI technologies to support its proprietary COMP360 psilocybin treatment for Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD.) COMPASS is oner of the biggest players in the psychedelics biotech space today.

CEO Kabir Nath said the results are “exciting” because they signal a potential prediction of long-term patient response in psilocybin treatment and support the delivery of more personalized care in the long term for people suffering from TRD.

Published in the Psychopharmacology journal in late August, the peer-reviewed paper shows the AI model could predict results up to 12 weeks post-treatment through recordings of the integration session done 24 hours post-dose. 

“Our goal is to use technology to move clinical psychology toward precision medicine,” stated COMPASS’ CTO Greg Ryslik. “By using Natural Language Processing (NLP) to identify key linguistic and speech-based digital biomarkers, we have the opportunity to further understand the presentation of TRD and help provide a deeper understanding of TRD as a whole if unique patterns between individuals emerge.”

The company thus created an ML algorithm to assess the emotional sentiment of 101 English-speaking participants from its recently completed Phase 2b study on TRD. The sentiment scores, measured by valence (happiness to sadness) and arousal (intensity of emotion,) were used in the algorithm’s second stage to predict patient response as measured by the MADRS three weeks and three months post-administration. 

The model reportedly yielded a cross-validated accuracy of 85% and 88% at the three- and twelve-week timepoints, respectively. The Area Under the Curve (AUC) results were comparable with values of 88% and 85% at the three- and twelve-week time points.

See Also: Cracking The Code Of Healing: Can Trained Coders Observe Therapeutic Moments In Psilocybin Therapy?

The study authors stated that further research is needed to validate the new model and further evaluate its potential to predict responder status pre-treatment.

A New Treatment Model For Refractory Depression

The company’s new treatment model comprises the patented synthetic psilocybin formulation paired with psychological support. COMP360 holds an FDA “Breakthrough Therapy” designation as well as a U.K. Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP) designation for TRD.

A Phase 3 clinical program, “the largest randomized, controlled, double-blind psilocybin treatment clinical program ever conducted” is underway, following a Phase 2b study with topline data showing a significant improvement in depressive symptom severity three weeks after a single 25mg dose of the psychedelic.

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Photo: Benzinga edit with photo by Bacsica, aiyoshi597, Gisele Yashar and metamorworks on Shutterstock.