Psychedelics For CNS Disorders: Understanding The Opportunity

Investigational uses of psilocybin and MDMA – two illicit drugs associated with recreational use and abuse in the US – will soon enter the later stages of clinical development for the treatment of CNS disorders including depression, addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Brain image
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An expanding community of clinical researchers, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations and drug developers are working to bring old psychoactive drugs – or medicines, to use the preferred term of psilocybin advocates – into new therapeutic uses. Early clinical successes with MDMA and psilocybin have now transitioned into large, late-stage trials, with the potential to upend psychiatric treatment standards for conditions including major depressive disorder (MDD), treatment-resistant depression, anxiety and depression associated with cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and addiction.

In depression specifically, the rapid onset of drugs like ketamine and psilocybin provide a crucial benefit to traditional therapies like...

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