With a little help from pharma friends: Psychedelics for psychiatric therapy

Pharma giant Eli Lilly's announcement earlier this month that it will buy AtaiBeckley, a clinical-stage biotech company focused on psychedelic psychiatric therapies, for $3.8 bn, marks a return of mind-altering drugs not just to the 'scene' but to treatment of mental health disorders.

Unlike Eli Lilly's existing antidepressants that gradually alter brain chemistry, AtaiBeckley has conducted advanced clinical trials of psychedelic compounds that rewire neural connections over the course of a few doses. Eli Lilly is tapping into rising interest in experimental treatments for mental health disorders that don't respond to conventional therapies. The Trump regime is drumming up the interest in psychedelics through executive action, and bigger federal funding.

Also Read: Disciplining with 'Down, AI! Bad AI!'


These drugs are administered in controlled doses accompanied by psychotherapy, so there are issues in clinical trials over separating effects of the treatment lines. Testing psychedelics faces safety challenges over side effects and addiction.

Treatments are being investigated as single-day doses, and redosing strategies have to be evaluated. The US FDA has granted the breakthrough label to LSD for generalised anxiety disorder, MDMA for PTSD, and psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression. Trials are also on for less well-defined conditions, or combinations of symptoms like Alzheimer's. Finally, since psychedelics have had wide use as recreational drugs, clinical application will have to distinguish patient motivation.

Also Read: Apple and Nvidia tango at the top

Yet, the rush is on to quickly rewire the brain, a therapy segment that could become bigger than the existing market for mental health drugs. Eli Lilly is a case in point. A big chunk of its profits over the years has come from antidepressants that may have run their course.

Promise of psychedelics is exciting, but their biochemistry has to become much clearer. There were valid reasons these drugs, which began life as treatment for mental health conditions, were taken off shelves. Those reasons still exist. Indian pharma could tap into them and take a trip.