MindMed's First Patient Dosing Clinical Trial With LSD For Treatment Of Generalized Anxiety Disorder

The clinical-stage biopharma company Mind Medicine -also known as MindMed MNMD, which recently made headlines regarding its stock, announced it will begin dosing patients within its Phase 2b trial on LSD compound, MM-120, for the treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).

The randomized, placebo-controlled and dose-optimization clinical study will follow 200 patients with a GAD diagnosis who will receive one administration of 200 micrograms of MM-120 or a placebo. 

Its primary goal is to determine the reduction in anxiety symptoms 4 weeks after the drug administration, compared across the five treatment arms, while also measuring safety, tolerability and quality of life up to 12 weeks after the psychedelic intake. 

Understanding GAD And Implications Of The Study

Generalized Anxiety Disorder is a chronic and debilitating mental health disorder affecting almost 6% of adults in the US alone. 

Its symptoms include excessive anxiety and worry persisting for over six months, which can lead to significant impairment in social, occupational and other functioning, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. 

While there is substantial diagnostic overlap between GAD, Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and other mental health disorders, innovation focused on the treatment of GAD in recent years has been scarce. According to MindMed, the current study is “the largest well-controlled clinical trial of LSD ever conducted.”

MindMed’s CEO and director Robert Barrow further detailed: “This exciting next step in the advancement of LSD builds on the positive topline data presented by our partners at University Hospital Basel in May 2022, which demonstrated the rapid, durable, and statistically significant effects of LSD and its potential to safely mitigate symptoms of anxiety and depression.” 

The results of this trial are expected to guide the dose selection and development strategy for potential future Phase 3 studies. 

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