Are next-generation psychedelics the way forward for addressing treatment resistant depression?

Nearly 1 billion people around the world suffer from mental health disorders, with the global economic cost of those disorders expected to reach $6 trillion by 2030. One of the most common of those mental health disorders is depressive disorder, commonly called depression, with some 280 million people suffering from either mild, moderate or severe depression.Conventional treatments for depression such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, can work for many people but for some suffering from treatment resistant depression, options can be limited, but some new therapies are in the clinic and might offer some hope. Beckley PsyTech is a UK biotech that is working with next-generation psychedelic-based compounds administered in a short clinic visit once every two months. With positive results from their recent Phase 2B study and a partnership with atai Life Sciences, Beckley believes they are on their way to redefining how depression is treated.01:38               Meet Cosmo Feilding03:04               Beckley PsyTech, its mission and its focus08:36               BPL-003 and next generation psychedelics11:16               Intranasal delivery and its advantages14:26               Psychedelics in the clinic and Phase IIb trial results18:32               Safety: suicide signals and adverse events21:02               Applications for psychedelics outside of depression24:11               The global economic costs of mental health disorders27:40               Comparing Beckley PsyTech to Compass Pathways and GH Research35:26               Regulatory hurdles and the stigma around psychedelics38:14               Partnering with atai Life Sciences and the future of Beckley PsyTech43:16               Milestones ahead for Beckley PsyTech45:44               A future vision for patients suffering from depressionInterested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletterTo dive deeper into the topic: New antidepressants: tackling treatment resistant depressionPsychedelics sans side effects: neuroplastogens gain groundFrom LSD to healing minds: Where are we standing in psychedelic drug development?