Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc (NEO:MMED) (OTCQB:MMEDF) (FRA:MMQ) announced Tuesday an innovative randomized placebo-controlled study evaluating the effects of daytime and evening administration of low doses of LSD.
The company said the study will look at how the low dosages affect cognitive performance, sleep quality, mood, neuroplasticity markers, emotion regulation, quality of life, and immune system response.
The study also will provide an additional research pathway for MindMed's psychedelic Microdosing Division and will immediately integrate with MindMed's plans in digital therapeutics through its newly formed Albert unit for digital medicine.
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The new study will be conducted in collaboration with Dr Kim Kuypers of Maastricht University in the Netherlands, a leading authority on microdosing with psychedelics.
"I am excited about this new study which combines a variety of measures ranging from self-reporting and cognitive tasks to health and sleep parameters, bringing us closer to the mechanism of action behind the claimed benefits of microdosing," Dr Kuypers said in a statement.
To advance the scientific understanding of microdosing for clinical purposes, MindMed said the randomized placebo-controlled study will specifically measure the effects of microdoses of LSD on neuroplasticity markers such as BDNF plasma levels, as well as on various sleep measures, mood, cognitive performance, emotion regulation, quality of life, and immune system response.
Digital clinical markers
New York City-based MindMed said it is integrating innovative digital tracking devices and software into the study to better assess LSD's effects on various digital clinical markers on the human body.
"Over the past 15 years, there has been growing interest in psychedelic microdosing and its potential enhancing effects on the human body. We now aim to use digital medicine techniques to expand the measurements enabling us to track and understand cognitive performance, various behavioral variables, productivity, and mood indicators," said MindMed President Dr Miri Halperin Wernli.
"We believe that such measurements may offer an efficient way of determining a response loop for better understanding how microdosing can affect the human body. With this study, we are seeking to gather scientific and controlled data that we hope will contribute to the discovery of potential therapeutic applications for these psychedelics micro-dosing paradigms as innovative treatment modalities."
In addition to this study, MindMed said its Microdosing Division under the leadership of Dr Wernli is undertaking a commercial Phase 2a Adult ADHD clinical trial evaluating microdoses of LSD. Dr Kuypers and Dr Matthias Liechti will serve as principal investigators for the initial clinical trial of this commercial program.
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