They are the mushrooms with hallucinogenic powers that have long been loved by those looking to spend a few hours on a natural psychedelic trip.
Today, however, magic mushrooms could be the key to curing severe depression. A British start-up is about to test its theory on hundreds of patients with an untreatable form of the condition.
Compass Pathways will hold a 400-patient trial to see if psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, can help them.
The patients, who will be given the compound synthesised in UK factories, have tried other treatments that have not worked.
Ekaterina Malievskaia, co-founder and chief medical officer of the London-based start-up, said: “Based on previous trials, psilocybin provides an immediate and sustained relief from depression, instils a sense of wellbeing, and improves quality of life.”
Advertisement
Malievskaia, who started the business with her husband, George Goldsmith, said they were encouraged to search for a new way to treat depression after watching a close family member suffer with the condition. “We need a new approach to tackling mental health,” said Goldsmith. “There is still a significant unmet need for a large number of patients living with this very challenging condition.”
Of the 300m patients globally who suffer from depression, a third have a condition which is resistant to existing treatment.