Psilocybin therapy shows promise for treating anorexia in small study

Compass Pathways (Nasdaq:CMPS) announced positive data from two early studies focused on using psilocybin therapy for anorexia nervosa and severe treatment-resistant depression.

The London-based company presented the results at the Society of Biological Psychiatry Annual Meeting in New Orleans.

In the anorexia nervosa study, 10 patients received a single 25 mg of the company’s COMP360 synthetic formulation of psilocybin. Almost one-third (30%) of the patients had clinically significant reductions in eating disorder psychopathology after one month. That figure rose to 40% at three months.

A total of 90% of study volunteers reported that the clinical trial was meaningful and therapeutic.

Participants reported no serious adverse events.

Dr. Walter Kaye at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine oversaw the study.

The second treatment recruited 12 individuals with severe treatment-resistant depression who had not responded to at least five antidepressants. A total of 58.3% (n=7) of the participants maintained response criteria for the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) at 12 weeks after COMP360 psilocybin administration.

Compass is now running a Phase 2b study of psilocybin in 22 sites based in the U.S., Canada and Europe.