“A psychedelic nasal spray requiring a much shorter period of clinical supervision has shown promise against treatment-resistant depression, giving biotechs hope that this type of drug will become a viable option for healthcare systems to use for mental health conditions. 

Atai Life Sciences and Beckley Psytech announced on Tuesday that patients in their trial of mebufotenin benzoate — based on a compound found in many plants and the venom of the Colorado River toad — demonstrated ‘clinically meaningful’ reductions in depressive symptoms as soon as the day after treatment.

The effect of a single treatment lasted for the trial of eight weeks without plateauing by the end and there were no serious side effects.

The trial of 193 patients in six countries found that the majority were ready for discharge 90 minutes after the dose, a marked improvement from previous trials of psychedelic treatments, where patients required supervision for a whole day.”

From Financial Times.