UK approves study to test DMT as a treatment for depression

The UK has approved trials conducted by London-based neuropharmaceutical company Small Pharma to assess the safety, then efficacy, of N, N-dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, on depression. This is the world's first clinical trial to study DMT as an antidepressant. treatment of depression.

Small Pharma CEO Peter Rand explained that DMT «offers a psychedelic experience in 20 minutes». The company hopes to offer shorter therapy sessions than with other psychedelics, which would benefit patients in terms of cost-effectiveness and convenience.

«By embracing responsible, evidence-based research and development in psychedelic medicine, we hope to help rename these once-stigmatized compounds as highly effective medical therapies that can be integrated into today's healthcare systems and made accessible to the millions of people suffering from depression.» a explained Peter Radn.

Small Pharma works in collaboration with Center for Psychedelic Research the’Imperial College in London. The company has received approval for its Phase I / IIa clinical trial evaluating the effects of DMT-assisted therapy in otherwise healthy volunteers with little experience of the substance and suffering from major depressive disorder. The first phase of the study is scheduled for next month, with the proof-of-concept phase to follow shortly afterwards.

Carol Routledge, Medical and Scientific Director of Small Pharma, told the magazine European Pharmaceutical Manufacturer that the validation of their clinical trial «is a truly revolutionary moment in the race to safely and effectively treat depression, especially as more and more people suffer the consequences of the pandemic.»

«Psychedelic-assisted therapy will revolutionize the treatment of depression because it goes directly to the root cause of the illness,» a declared Carol Routledge in an interview with The Independent, adding that DMT would enable patients to disrupt unhealthy thought patterns, «like shaking a snow globe» in the brain and allowing them to «reset».

Traditional antidepressants, she said, «alleviate symptoms rather than addressing the root cause».

A 2019 study by the University of California discovered that rats treated with microdoses of DMT had a reduced response to fear and anxiety.