Mushrooms as a medicine: Peter Thiel's start-up makes psilocybin

A sub-radar company manufactured enough active ingredient in magic mushrooms to send 20,000 people on a trip.

Compass Pathways, which is based in London and has an advisory board of esteemed scientists, launches psilocybin to study the compound in people with depression.

This work comes amidst a recent resurgence in the study of psychedelic drugs such as fungi and LSD for mental illness. While most research is conducted by universities and non-profit research institutions, Compass, a for-profit company founded in 2016, sees itself as helping to fill the gaps.

The startup attracted funds from big names like Peter Thiel. Christian Angermayer, London-based entrepreneur, Mike Novogratz, former hedge fund manager, and Sam Englebardt, film producer.

Compass also obtained scientific oversight from respected researchers like Tom Insel, the former director of the National Institutes of Mental Health, and David Nutt, the former British government drug czar, who sit on its board of directors.

Thousands of doses of psilocybin

Up to now, Compass claims to have manufactured two batches of 250 grams of psilocybin, the equivalent of 20,000 doses of 25 mg of drug. Although some of them will be tested for stability, the rest has been shaped into capsules. These will soon be shipped to a handful of sites in Europe and North America, where Compass plans to use psilocybin in clinical trials.

"We are building on the important work that has already been done in this area, gathering evidence from a larger population to see if psilocybin therapy could provide a breakthrough to help patients," said company.

The study will focus on treatment-resistant depression, which is one of the most difficult forms to treat because people with it do not respond to traditional treatments or medications. For the trial, which is scheduled to begin in a month, Compass enrolls 216 patients through more than a dozen search sites.

A resurgence of psychedelic research

Psilocybin has become a promising candidate for future treatments of anxiety and depression because it seems to disrupt the kinds of engrained brain activity patterns that are the mark of these diseases. One study examined the potential of the compound to help relieve anxiety in cancer patients; others have examined the potential effect of psilocybin on depression, PTSD and alcoholism.

Magic mushrooms are not the only psychedelic drug that is generating renewed attention. In the past five years at least, scientific research on the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelic drugs has been regular.

A study conducted in 2017 revealed that ecstasy could help veterans cope with the symptoms of PTSD. and one in 2012 suggested that ketamine may slow down major depression. This wave of research finally seems to lead to the development of promising potential treatments that could get government approval.

David Nutt, a former chief drug advisor to the UK government and current Compass Pathways advisor, has shown himself optimistic about the federal approval process. He told Business Insider last year that he expects to see psilocybin approved as a treatment against depression by 2027.