Depression therapy using magic mushrooms looks promising

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Compass Pathways’s experimental therapy based on psilocybin, or so-called magic mushrooms, showed promise in a midstage clinical trial in patients whose depression didn’t improve from other treatments. Nearly one quarter of the people treated with the highest dose of Compass Pathways’ drug candidate, called COMP360, saw the severity of their depression reduced after three months, as measured on a scale used by psychiatrists. “A high dose of psilocybin works immediately, the day after, for a large number of people, and continues to work,” Compass Chief Executive Officer George Goldsmith said in an interview before the results were made public in a press release. Mr Goldsmith said that study could begin next year if the US Food and Drug Administration agrees, and Compass could seek final approval by 2024 or 2025.