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Compass Pathways

Compass Pathways, or COMPASS Pathways, is a British pharmaceutical company developing psychedelics as potential medicines.[1][2] Its main drug candidate, psilocybin (COMP360), is currently in phase 3 clinical trials for treatment-resistant depression.[1][3] This candidate has received breakthrough therapy status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).[1] It is the most advanced psychedelic drug candidate in development besides Lykos Therapeutics's midomafetamine (MDMA).[4]

Compass Pathways is the largest company in the psychedelic medicine industry and, in 2020, was the first psychedelic medicine company to be listed on the NASDAQ.[1] It has faced criticism for patenting psychedelic drugs and even certain psilocybin mushroom species.[1][5] In October 2024, after the FDA rejected Lykos Therapeutics's MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) New Drug Application (NDA), Compass Pathways said that it would lay off 30% of its workforce and narrow its research focus.[6]

Compass Pathways has entered partnerships with several independent psychedelic academic scientists, including Jason Wallach, Hamilton Morris, and Adam Halberstadt among others, to develop novel psychedelic drugs for potential medical use.[7][8][9][10][11][12] Wallach's lab is said to have sought patents for over 200novel compounds as of May 2024.[11]

Compass Pathways switched from being a nonprofit organization to a for-profit company in 2016.[10] The pharmaceutical company has been backed and funded by a number of tech entrepreneurs such as Peter Thiel.[5] The media outlet Sifted remarks that the biotech billionaire Christian Angermayer was instrumental in the founding of Compass Pathways."[13]

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References

  1. Jacob S. Aday, Brian S. Barnett, Dan Grossman, Kevin S. Murnane, Charles D. Nichols, Peter S. Hendricks. Psychedelic Commercialization: A Wide-Spanning Overview of the Emerging Psychedelic Industry Psychedelic Medicine, 1 September 2023^
  2. Mark Travers. A Synthetic Psychedelic Is Making Waves In Stubborn Depression Treatment—Here's What You Need To Know Forbes, 8 July 2024, retrieved 29 January 2025^
  3. Psilocybin (COMP360) - COMPASS Pathways AdisInsight, 20 December 2024, retrieved 29 January 2025^
  4. Psychedelic renaissance: Revitalized potential therapies for psychiatric disorders Drug Discov Today, December 2023^
  5. Acid liberalism: Silicon Valley's enlightened technocrats, and the legalization of psychedelics Int J Drug Policy, December 2022^
  6. Kristin Jensen. Compass delays anticipated psilocybin readout, cuts staff BioPharma Dive, 31 October 2024, retrieved 29 January 2025^
  7. John Semley. The High-Stakes Race to Engineer New Psychedelic Drugs WIRED, 26 July 2022, retrieved 28 January 2025^
  8. Sam Wood. Envisioning a psychedelic future for Philadelphia's USciences as it pairs with Compass Pathways for a Drug Discovery Center inquirer.com, 15 February 2021, retrieved 28 January 2025^
  9. Ben Seal. A Psychedelic Renaissance Saint Joseph's University Magazine, May 2024, retrieved 28 January 2025^
  10. Russel Hausfeld, David Nickles. Hamilton Morris Hired by Psilocybin Startup COMPASS Pathways, Ends "Hamilton's Pharmacopeia" On Vice September 22, 2021^
  11. Psychedelic Compounds are Focus of USciences Lab Newsroom, 18 October 2021, retrieved 9 January 2025^
  12. COMPASS Pathways. COMPASS Pathways expands its Discovery Center through new collaborations with world-leading scientists GlobeNewswire News Room, 9 February 2021, retrieved 28 January 2025^
  13. Michael Stothard. Brunch with Sifted: psychedelic investor Christian Angermayer Sifted, 16 November 2020^