Atai Life Sciences Co-CEO Shares Promising Results of ELE-101 in Depression Treatment

Atai Life Sciences co-founder and co-CEO Florian Brand discussed initial results from Beckley Psytech’s phase 1 trial of its patent-protected psilocin ELE-101 in patients with major depressive disorder. Brand explained that ELE-101 is an intravenous (IV) formulation of psilocin, the active metabolite of psilocybin, developed for depression treatment. The IV formulation aims to reduce treatment duration to two hours, compared to the longer sessions required by traditional psilocybin and LSD treatments. Phase one trials in healthy participants showed that ELE-101 was well tolerated with no serious safety concerns and had a predictable pharmacokinetic profile, supporting dose selection for phase two trials. Brand highlighted the commencement of phase 2 trials with the first patient already dosed. This study involves 6 to 12 patients, with data expected in the second half of this year. Atai Life Sciences is optimistic about the shorter treatment duration, potentially making it more convenient for patients and less burdensome for the healthcare system. Additionally, Brand mentioned their involvement with Compass Pathways, which is developing psilocybin therapy, and noted the importance of the two-hour treatment paradigm established by the intranasal esketamine spray, Spravato. This paradigm could be leveraged for their other compounds, such as BPL-003 and DMT, also being developed for depression treatment.