Phase 2 data support lysergide for major depressive disorder

Key takeaways:

• Results from a phase 2 trial of the investigational drug lysergide, or LSD, for major depression were positive.
• The findings support continued research on the psychedelic.

A phase 2 trial provided positive results for the use of lysergide, otherwise known as LSD, in major depressive disorder, according to a press release.

The study on lysergide was led by researchers at Mind Medicine, based in New York, the University Hospital Basel (UHB) in Switzerland and the University Hospital of Psychiatry.

According to the release, participants with major depressive disorder (MDD) received two doses of lysergide 4 weeks apart. The test group received 100 µg lysergide and then 200 µg lysergide 4 weeks later, while the control group received 25 µg lysergide on each dosage day.

At 6 weeks from baseline, participants who received the higher dose amounts had a greater improvement in Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (IDS-C) scores (P = .02). Compared with placebo, the higher dose regimen was associated with IDS-C improvement for up to 16 weeks (P = .008).

Additionally, lysergide was well-tolerated.

“We continue to be encouraged by the positive results being generated on the clinical activity of lysergide by our collaborators at UHB,” Robert Barrow, MS, CEO and director of Mind Medicine, said in the release. “The statistically and clinically significant improvements observed in this study reinforce preliminary findings that have shown the clinical potential of lysergide in anxiety, depression and other brain health disorders. These positive findings are particularly relevant to our MM-120 program in generalized anxiety disorder, given the high degree of comorbidity of general anxiety disorder and MDD.”