Psychedelic Briefs: Journey Colab, Small Pharma

Biopharmaceutical startup Journey Colab has announced that Kelly J. Clark, MD, MBA, DFAPA, DFASAM, the former president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, is joining its Scientific Advisory Board and endorsing psychedelics as a potential alcohol use disorder treatment intervention.

Journey Colab is developing an approach to addiction treatment that combines a synthetic version of the psychedelic compound mescaline the company is developing with therapy and community support. Dr Clark is board certified in addiction medicine and psychiatry, and will join 6 other advisory board members, who have experience in psychiatry and psychology, psychedelic research, and substance use disorder and mental health treatment.

The company said that as a member of its advisory board, Dr Clark will help inform Journey Colab’s development of its new model for addiction care through medicine-induced behavior modification therapy.

Clinical Trial for DMT-Assisted Therapy in Major Depressive Disorder Shows Consistent Quality of Psychedelic Response

Small Pharma, a neuroscience company developing psychedelic-assisted therapies for mental health, announced that it has completed Phase I of a clinical trial for DMT-assisted therapy, revealing that the drug “is a scalable treatment option for major depressive disorder.” The therapy included a 30-minute dosing time for its SPL026 drug administered in combination with psychotherapy. The Phase I trial found:

• No statistically significant negative effects on anxiety and wellbeing during a 3-month follow-up period
• No drug-related serious adverse events
• A clear correlation between quality of psychedelic experience and dosing levels, with doses ranging between 9 mg and 21.5 mg across 32 healthy, psychedelic-naïve volunteers across 4 cohorts

A blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled, proof-of-concept Phase IIa study of SPL026 in combination with psychotherapy in 42 patients with major depressive disorder is expected to produce top-line results in the first half of 2022, the company said.

References

National addiction expert joins Journey Colab to support development  of psychedelic therapeutics for the treatment of alcohol use disorder. News release. Journey Colab. February 24, 2022. Accessed February 25, 2022.

World’s first clinical trial for DMT-assisted therapy in major depressive disorder shows consistent quality of psychedelic response in phase I. News release. Small Pharma. February 22, 2022. Accessed February 25, 2022.