Nearly 1 billion people around the world suffer from mental health disorders, with the global economic cost of those disorders expected to reach $6 trillion by 2030. 

One of the most common of those mental health disorders is depressive disorder, commonly called depression, with some 280 million people suffering from either mild, moderate or severe depression.

Conventional treatments for depression such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, can work for many people but for some suffering from treatment resistant depression, options can be limited, but some new therapies are in the clinic and might offer some hope. 

Beckley PsyTech is a UK biotech that is working with next-generation psychedelic-based compounds administered in a short clinic visit once every two months. With positive results from their recent Phase 2B study and a partnership with atai Life Sciences, Beckley believes they are on their way to redefining how depression is treated.

01:38               Meet Cosmo Fielding

03:04               Beckley PsyTech, its mission and its focus

08:36               BPL-003 and next generation psychedelics

11:16               Intranasal delivery and its advantages

14:26               Psychedelics in the clinic and Phase IIb trial results

18:32               Safety: suicide signals and adverse events

21:02               Applications for psychedelics outside of depression

24:11               The global economic costs of mental health disorders

27:40               Comparing Beckley PsyTech to Compass Pathways and GH Research

35:26               Regulatory hurdles and the stigma around psychedelics

38:14               Partnering with atai Life Sciences and the future of Beckley PsyTech

43:16               Milestones ahead for Beckley PsyTech

45:44               A future vision for patients suffering from depression

Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! 

Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter

To dive deeper into the topic: 

• New antidepressants: tackling treatment resistant depression
• Psychedelics sans side effects: neuroplastogens gain ground
• From LSD to healing minds: Where are we standing in psychedelic drug development?