In 2022, Kabir Nath quit his high-paying executive job at a pharmaceutical company to tackle a project that few wanted to take on — developing psychedelic medication for treatment-resistant depression.
Nath was approached by Compass Pathways, a startup that had a patent on a synthetic version of psilocybin. Psilocybin is a hallucinogenic compound found in ‘magic’ mushrooms that when ingested, is capable of altering perception and mood. The company was hoping to use synthetic psilocybin to help those with treatment-resistant depression.
Compass Pathways wanted Kabir Nath to join the startup as CEO. Nath, whose father died by suicide, was convinced despite the fact that the drug did not—and still doesn’t—have FDA approval.
Traditional pharma to psychedelics
"A number of people have said to me in the last couple of years: 'You do realize what a risk that was,'" Nath told Business Insider.
"I was probably the first really senior executive from traditional pharma to make the move to psychedelics," he added. "But, you know, it was the right thing to do."
Nath’s personal risk is growing as Compass Pathways completes its final regulatory filings for COMP360, its psilocybin pill, which could receive FDA approval as soon as next year, paving the way for its public launch.
{{/usCountry}}Nath’s personal risk is growing as Compass Pathways completes its final regulatory filings for COMP360, its psilocybin pill, which could receive FDA approval as soon as next year, paving the way for its public launch.
{{/usCountry}}(Also read: A psychedelic medicine performs well against depression)
Why the need for psychedelic treatment
In a recent interview with MM+M, Kabir Nath opened up about the need for exploring psychedelic treatment for mental illnesses.
He noted that about a third of patients diagnosed with clinical depression are resistant to antidepressants.
“For serious mental illness, the treatments we have today have been around for a long time. With major depressive disorder, about a third of patients end up with treatment-resistant depression, meaning they have failed at least two antidepressants,” Nath said.
“Our founders recognized that psilocybin could be transformative for at least some of these patients. We’ve completed our Phase 3 trials of COMP360, our proprietary synthetic form of psilocybin, and we’re in the process of submitting our application to the FDA.
(Also read: Psychedelics can cure anxiety and depression? Here’s what recent study states)
“Psychiatrists are extremely interested because they desperately need new tools. Patients also need to understand that, if approved, this could be another option available to them. Too often, people move from one antidepressant to another without reaching newer treatments that may help,” he said.
What the Phase 3 trials showed
According to Nath, Compass Pathways tested the drug on patients with a long history of depression.
Patients received one 25 mg dose of COMP360 in a clinical setting. The treatment involved around six hours of psychedelic effects, with patients at the clinic during the experience.
Researchers found that some patients showed a meaningful improvement in their depression as soon as the next day. The effects could last for up to 26 weeks, or roughly six months. Patients also had the option of receiving a second dose after six weeks.
In the second study, patients received two doses, with three weeks between them. Nath says 40% of patients showed a response to treatment.
In this context, a response generally means a substantial improvement in depression symptoms. It does not necessarily mean the person was completely cured or no longer had depression.
How does the drug work?
Kabir Nath and his team are not exactly sure how the psychedelic drug works.
“We don’t fully understand it yet,” he admitted to MM+M.
“Brain-imaging studies suggest that psychedelics reorganize brain networks, allowing different parts of the brain to connect in ways they normally don’t. Patients describe working through emotions and experiences, and for some, it seems to enable a reset of the fixed patterns of thinking associated with depression. We see evidence of that network reorganization, but there’s still much to learn,” he added.
(Also read: Donald Trump is giving psychedelic medicines a welcome boost)