Mapping the psychedelics frontier in depression

After years of promise, psychedelics are approaching their first commercial test in depression. Positive Phase III data have put a psilocybin therapy from Compass Pathways plc (NASDAQ:CMPS) on a path toward FDA review, while multibillion-dollar deals by Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY) and AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) have brought large pharma firmly into the field.

But compelling data alone will not determine which products succeed. Developers must show that rapid, durable benefit can be delivered through a treatment model that clinics can operate, payers will reimburse, and patients can access. Through Spravato esketamine, Johnson & Johnson (MYSE:JNJ) has shown that a supervised psychoactive therapy can become a blockbuster, but longer treatment sessions, uncertain retreatment schedules, and controlled-substance requirements create new complications for classic psychedelics such a psilocybin and LSD...