~184 spots leftby Mar 2026

Psilocybin for Major Depressive Disorder - TRD

Recruiting in Palo Alto (17 mi)
+81 other locations
Age: 18+
Sex: Any
Travel: May Be Covered
Time Reimbursement: Varies
Trial Phase: Phase 3
Recruiting
Sponsor: COMPASS Pathways
Disqualifiers: Bipolar, Schizophrenia, Borderline, PTSD, others
No Placebo Group
Pivotal Trial (Near Approval)
Prior Safety Data
Approved in 2 Jurisdictions

Trial Summary

What is the purpose of this trial?This trial is testing COMP360, a new treatment for adults who have not responded to other depression treatments. Participants will receive one of three doses of COMP360 along with psychological support. The goal is to see if this combination can help improve their depression symptoms.
Will I have to stop taking my current medications?

Yes, you will need to stop taking any medications that are not allowed in the trial, as participants must agree to discontinue all prohibited medications.

What data supports the effectiveness of the drug psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression?

Research shows that psilocybin can lead to significant and lasting improvements in depression symptoms, even in patients who haven't responded to other treatments. It is generally well-tolerated with few side effects, and early studies suggest it has rapid and long-lasting antidepressant effects.

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Is psilocybin safe for human use?

Psilocybin has been studied for its safety in humans, showing that it can be used safely under controlled conditions, although caution is advised with higher doses. It has been shown not to worsen certain heart conditions in controlled studies, and its safety profile has been evaluated in healthy adults with escalating doses.

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How is the drug psilocybin unique in treating treatment-resistant depression?

Psilocybin is unique because it acts quickly and is used in a single or few doses, unlike traditional antidepressants that require daily intake. It works by affecting serotonin receptors in the brain, and it has shown promise in reducing depression symptoms even in those who haven't responded to other treatments.

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Eligibility Criteria

This trial is for adults over 18 with treatment-resistant depression (TRD), which means their current major depressive episode hasn't improved after trying two to four different antidepressants. Participants must have a moderate severity of depression and agree to stop taking any prohibited medications.

Inclusion Criteria

Can you read, write, and speak English?
Aged ≥18 years at Screening
Are you able to read and write English?
+11 more

Exclusion Criteria

You have a history of certain personality disorders or ongoing serious mental health issues based on medical history and clinical judgement.
You have been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder or show symptoms of it as per medical records or a specific interview called "MINI plus - borderline personality disorder module".
I have used specific treatments for depression recently.
+4 more

Trial Timeline

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

3-10 weeks

Treatment

Participants receive two administrations of COMP360 with psychological support

6 weeks

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for safety and effectiveness after treatment

6 weeks

Participant Groups

The study tests the effectiveness, safety, and tolerability of COMP360 psilocybin therapy in people with TRD. It involves two administrations of the drug to see if it can help alleviate symptoms in those who haven't responded well to standard treatments.
3Treatment groups
Experimental Treatment
Active Control
Group I: 25 mg COMP360 PsilocybinExperimental Treatment1 Intervention
25 mg COMP360 Psilocybin
Group II: 10 mg COMP360 PsilocybinExperimental Treatment1 Intervention
10 mg COMP360 Psilocybin
Group III: 1 mg COMP360 PsilocybinActive Control1 Intervention
1 mg COMP360 Psilocybin, active comparator

Psilocybin is already approved in United States, European Union for the following indications:

🇺🇸 Approved in United States as Psilocybin for:
  • Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) under Breakthrough Therapy designation
🇪🇺 Approved in European Union as Psilocybin for:
  • Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) under PRIME designation

Find a Clinic Near You

Research Locations NearbySelect from list below to view details:
Segal Trials - Miami Lakes, FLHialeah, FL
Segal Trials - Lauderhill, FLFort Lauderdale, FL
Atlanta Behavioral ResearchAtlanta, GA
University of Cincinnati, Department of Psychiatry & Behavirol NeuroscienceCincinnati, OH
More Trial Locations
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Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

COMPASS PathwaysLead Sponsor

References

[Treatment with psilocybin: applications for patients with psychiatric disorders]. [2021]After a cessation of almost 40 years, there is renewed interest into therapeutic applicationsof the serotonergic psychedelic psilocybin for the treatment of patients with various psychiatric disorders. PubMed was searched for clinical trials into "psilocybin" between 2000 and 2020, complemented by handsearching. Articles were also screened for explanatory models and working mechanisms. Psilocybin has been studied in 9 clinical trials: for the treatment of substance use disorders, depression, end-of-life anxiety, demoralization, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Results show that psilocybin is well tolerated, with only limited side-effects, while even patients with treatment-resistant disorders sometimes show marked, long-term improvements after one or a few sessions. Initial results are encouraging, but there are several limitations. More research is needed to determine which patient populations can benefit, what role setting and the placebo response play, and how these novel treatments can be optimized.
Efficacy and safety of psilocybin-assisted treatment for major depressive disorder: Prospective 12-month follow-up. [2022]Preliminary data suggest that psilocybin-assisted treatment produces substantial and rapid antidepressant effects in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), but little is known about long-term outcomes.
Psilocybin-assisted therapy for major depressive disorder: An exploratory placebo-controlled, fixed-order trial. [2023]Several early phase studies have demonstrated that psilocybin-assisted therapy has rapid-acting and persisting antidepressant effects from just one or two doses. However, methodological limitations (e.g., placebo-control, blinding) limit interpretability of the existing literature.
Assessing potential of psilocybin for depressive disorders. [2023]There has been increasing interest in the role psilocybin may play in the treatment of depressive disorders. Several clinical trials have shown psilocybin to have efficacy in reducing symptoms of depression.
The pharmacology of psilocybin. [2016]Psilocybin (4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) is the major psychoactive alkaloid of some species of mushrooms distributed worldwide. These mushrooms represent a growing problem regarding hallucinogenic drug abuse. Despite its experimental medical use in the 1960s, only very few pharmacological data about psilocybin were known until recently. Because of its still growing capacity for abuse and the widely dispersed data this review presents all the available pharmacological data about psilocybin.
Pharmacokinetics of Escalating Doses of Oral Psilocybin in Healthy Adults. [2022]Psilocybin is a psychedelic tryptamine that has shown promise in recent clinical trials for the treatment of depression and substance use disorders. This open-label study of the pharmacokinetics of psilocybin was performed to describe the pharmacokinetics and safety profile of psilocybin in sequential, escalating oral doses of 0.3, 0.45, and 0.6 mg/kg in 12 healthy adults.
[Hallucinogenic mushrooms]. [2018]The group of hallucinogenic mushrooms (species of the genera Conocybe, Gymnopilus, Panaeolus, Pluteus, Psilocybe, and Stropharia) is psilocybin-containing mushrooms. These "magic", psychoactive fungi have the serotonergic hallucinogen psilocybin. Toxicity of these mushrooms is substantial because of the popularity of hallucinogens. Psilocybin and its active metabolite psilocin are similar to lysergic acid diethylamide. These hallucinogens affect the central nervous system rapidly (within 0.5-1 hour after ingestion), producing ataxia, hyperkinesis, and hallucinations. In this review article there are discussed about history of use of hallucinogenic mushrooms and epidemiology; pharmacology, pharmacodynamics, somatic effects and pharmacokinetics of psilocybin, the clinical effects of psilocybin and psilocin, signs and symptoms of ingestion of hallucinogenic mushrooms, treatment and prognosis.
Effects and safety of Psilocybe cubensis and Panaeolus cyanescens magic mushroom extracts on endothelin-1-induced hypertrophy and cell injury in cardiomyocytes. [2021]Prevalence of major depression in people with chronic heart failure is higher than in normal populations. Depression in heart failure has become a major issue. Psilocybin-containing mushrooms commonly known as magic mushrooms, have been used since ancient times for their mind healing properties. Their safety in cardiovascular disease conditions is not fully known and may pose as a risk for users suffering from these illnesses. Study investigates the effects and safety of Psilocybe cubensis and Panaeolus cyanescens magic mushrooms use from genus Psilocybe and Panaeolus respectively, in a pathological hypertrophy conditions in which endothelin-1 disorder is a contributor to pathogenesis. We examined the effects of the mushrooms extracts on endothelin-1-induced hypertrophy and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF- α)-induced cell injury in H9C2 cardiomyocytes. Mushrooms were oven dried and extracted with cold and boiling-hot water. H9C2 cardiomyocytes were induced with endothelin-1 prior to treatment with extracts over 48 h. Cell injury was stimulated with TNF-α. Results proposed that the water extracts of Panaeolus cyanescens and Psilocybe cubensis did not aggravate the pathological hypertrophy induced by endothelin-1 and also protected against the TNF-α-induced injury and cell death in concentrations used. Results support medicinal safe use of mushrooms under controlled conditions and cautioned use of higher concentrations.
Transcriptional regulation in the rat prefrontal cortex and hippocampus after a single administration of psilocybin. [2022]Psilocybin is a serotonergic psychedelic found in "magic mushrooms" with a putative therapeutic potential for treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and addiction. In rodents, psilocybin acutely induces plasticity-related immediate early genes in cortical tissue; however, studies into the effects on subcortical regions, of different doses, and the subsequent translation of corresponding proteins are lacking.
Return of the psychedelics: Psilocybin for treatment resistant depression. [2017]Psilocybin, the clinically most researched classic psychedelic has recently been tested for its safety and efficacy in a clinical population of treatment resistant depression. The efficacy of psilocybin in clinical depression previously demonstrated in the elecrophysiologic and neuroimaging findings as also in neuropsychological assessments is further validated by the findings of this rigorously conducted randomized trial. Mechanism of action of psilocybin and efficacy in treatment resistant depression are discussed in this paper. Ethical issues of conducting clinical trials with psychedelics are also discussed with particular emphasis on their relative safety and absence of addiction potential. Implications of these issues for conduct of larger trials for establishing risk benefit ratio in treatment resistant depression are further suggested.
Single-dose psilocybin-assisted therapy in major depressive disorder: A placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomised clinical trial. [2023]Psilocybin has been suggested as a novel, rapid-acting treatment for depression. Two consecutive doses have been shown to markedly decrease symptom severity in an open-label setting or when compared to a waiting list group. To date, to our knowledge, no other trial compared a single, moderate dose of psilocybin to a placebo condition.
Psilocybin with psychological support for treatment-resistant depression: an open-label feasibility study. [2022]Psilocybin is a serotonin receptor agonist that occurs naturally in some mushroom species. Recent studies have assessed the therapeutic potential of psilocybin for various conditions, including end-of-life anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and smoking and alcohol dependence, with promising preliminary results. Here, we aimed to investigate the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of psilocybin in patients with unipolar treatment-resistant depression.
Psilocybin for treatment resistant depression in patients taking a concomitant SSRI medication. [2023]Psilocybin is being investigated as a treatment in adults with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Withdrawal from serotonergic antidepressant drugs is a common prerequisite for taking part in trials of psilocybin due to the possibility of ongoing antidepressant drugs altering the psychedelic effect. This phase II, exploratory, international, fixed-dose, open-label study explored the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of a synthetic form of psilocybin (investigational drug COMP360) adjunct to a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor in participants with TRD. Participants received a single 25 mg dose of psilocybin alongside psychological support and were followed-up for 3 weeks. The primary efficacy end point was change in the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) total score from Baseline at Week 3. Secondary end points were safety, including treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs), the proportion of responders and remitters at Week 3, and the change from Baseline to Week 3 in Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) score. Nineteen participants were dosed and the mean Baseline MADRS total score was 31.7 (SD = 5.77). Twelve (63.2%) participants had a TEAE, most of which were mild and resolved on the day of onset. There were no serious TEAEs or indication of increased suicidal ideation or behavior. At Week 3, mean change from Baseline in MADRS total score was -14.9 (95% CI, -20.7 to -9.2), and -1.3 (SD = 1.29) in the CGI-S. Both response and remission were evident in 8 (42.1%) participants. Larger, comparator-controlled trials are necessary to understand if this paradigm can optimize treatment-outcome where antidepressant drug withdrawal would be problematic.