Depression

Evecxia Therapeutics has reported favourable safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic data from a Phase I trial of EVX-101 in healthy volunteers treated with escitalopram. The company is also planning a Phase II adjunctive EVX-101 trial in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) responding inadequately to a first-line antidepressant (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) or serotonin-norepinephrine […]

Beckley Psytech has initiated a Phase IIa study investigating BPL-003, a proprietary intranasal formulation of synthetic 5-Methoxy-N, N-Dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT), for treatment resistant depression (TRD).  Depression affects around 280 million people around the world, but 30% of those living with the condition are resistant to available antidepressant medications, meaning there is an urgent need for more […]

The latest episode of the DDW Highlights podcast is now available to listen to below. DDW’s Megan Thomas narrates five key stories of the week to keep DDW subscribers up-to-date on the latest industry news.  The industry has seen breakthroughs announced in malaria treatment, epilepsy and major depressive disorders. The NHS in England has fast tracked another […]

News round-up for 28 November – 2 December by DDW Digital Content Editor Diana Spencer  The last seven days have seen breakthroughs announced in malaria treatment, epilepsy and major depressive disorders. The NHS in England has fast tracked another cancer drug, and, in Covid-19 news, researchers have emphatically proven that prednisolone should not be prescribed […]

Psilocybin, a psychedelic derived from mushrooms, has been proven effective as a therapy for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) in the largest study of its kind.  The results of COMPASS Pathways’ Phase IIb trial have been published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).  The data show that after a single 25mg dose of COMP360 psilocybin, […]

A new start-up has launched with an aim of developing therapeutics that address synaptic dysfunction in patients suffering from central nervous system (CNS) disorders.   Gate Neurosciences was founded in 2019 by a team of neuroscientists with the goal of addressing the urgent need for more effective treatments for CNS disorders, and to overcome long-standing challenges […]

Following the news that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted Axsome Therapeutics’ new drug application (NDA) for its novel antidepressant therapy AXS-05 and granted it priority review, GlobalData commented that it would be “a blockbuster drug” by 2026, estimating global sales of approximately US$1.3 billion by 2029. Philippa Salter, Neurology Analyst at GlobalData, […]

In a small study carried out by researchers at the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London, it was found that psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, may be at least as effective as a leading antidepressant medication in a therapeutic setting. In a rigorous trial which assessed the therapeutic potential of a […]