Yet another psychedelic medicine clinical trial is showing promise for transforming mental health treatments.
What’s happening:
- New York based neuroscience biotechnology company Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals has announced positive results from their Phase 1 trial of GM-2505, a novel 5-HT2A receptor agonist
- The clinical trial concluded that single intravenous doses of GM-2505 demonstrated rapid acting psychedelic effects and were well tolerated without any meaningful adverse side effects
Why it matters:
- While psilocybin is a naturally occurring 5-HT2A agonist, its psychedelic effects are much longer in duration
- GM-2505 is aiming to have a much shorter duration of action to better align with how treatments would occur in a clinical setting for patients while still having a profound therapeutic effect
Going deeper:
- Giglamesh’s novel molecule GM-2505 was originally developed for Major Depressive Disorder and Treatment Resistant Depression but after their Phase I trial they believe it may also have therapeutic potential for alcohol use disorder, anxiety disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder
- Gilgamesh will now look to advance GM-2505 into a Phase II clinical trial
By the numbers:
- Psychedelic effects from GM-2505 lasted between 60-90 minutes
- Gilgamesh has raised $66M USD in venture funding since inception