Bloomberg Businessweek December 7, 2020 pp19 |BW Talks|George Goldsmith|By Carol Massar. Carol Massar can be heard weekly 2PM-6PM ET on Bloomberg Radio.
“Compass Pathways developed a synthetic form of psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient found in ‘magic mushrooms’ for use in treating depression. CEO Goldsmith says the key is using the hallucinogenic as part of a broader therapy”
Read the BBW article for full detail. Presented below is a brief of the discussion.
Q: “Millions suffer from depression. Does that make it a good market from a business sense?”
A*: “30% of depression is still difficult to treat”
*A answers as presented here are truncated for brevity.
Q: “Is this potentially a billion-dollar drug?
A: “Well, I think it has the potential to be a therapy.” 2244-As part of a treatment plan
Q: “How does your therapy work?”
A: Patients are “given a very high dose…in a carefully controlled setting under supervision by specially trained therapists-so this isn’t anything to do at home.” “Afterwards many patients experience an immediate reduction in depression…”
A: “We’re looking at how we do the real, deep research…need[ed] to go to Phase III trials.”
Q: “Despite getting the FDA designation, you’ve got to do more rigorous testing, especially with some concerns about hallucinogenics?”
A: “Absolutely, because obviously there’s a history here…regulators and payers…saw this is promising.”