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.
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. Nath, whose father died by suicide, was convinced despite the fact that the drug did not—and still doesn’t—have FDA approval. (Also read: A psychedelic medicine performs well against depression ) “For serious mental illness, the treatments we have today have been around for a long time.
The treatment involved around six hours of psychedelic effects, with patients at the clinic during the experience. In the second study, patients received two doses, with three weeks between them. Patients received one 25 mg dose of COMP360 in a clinical setting. Nath says 40% of patients showed a response to treatment.
Compass Pathways tested the drug on patients with a long history of depression, according to Nath.
