Small Pharma Inc (TSX-V:DMT), a neuropharmaceutical company focused on psychedelic-assisted therapies, has launched a training program to educate psychologists on the process required for the support and completion of its DMT-assisted therapy clinical trials.
The program has been created as the company prepares to start a Phase IIa study of its lead product.
In the earlier stages of the clinical trials at Hammersmith Medicines Research Ltd, Small Pharma has been developing a psychedelic-assisted therapy model in collaboration with the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London.
Small Pharma has hosted and successfully completed the initial training program at the University of Oxford.
The program consisted of sessions with key experts in the field including those from Imperial College London, King's College London, and the Institute of Psychedelic Therapy.
This was the first of many sessions to be rolled out by Small Pharma to ensure that the support their patients receive in ongoing and future clinical trials is of the highest quality and administered consistently across the company's global sites, it said.
Carol Routledge, chief medical and scientific officer of Small Pharma, said: "With the Phase IIa part of our initial trial due to start imminently, and our Phase IIb clinical trials due to commence in 2022, the Small Pharma training program will ensure psychologists participating in our trials are fully trained and understand the requirements stipulated by the regulatory authorities.
at Hammersmith Medicines Research LtdWe believe that DMT has the potential to transform the lives of millions of patients suffering with depression. The creation of our program will not only prepare psychologists for our trials, but we hope will be the beginning of a future standard training academy, increasing awareness of the importance of psychedelic-assisted therapy and supporting the future commercialisation of our products."
DMT-assisted therapy studies consist of drug treatment in combination with psychological therapy in specialist facilities that can host both elements.
Psychedelics have been shown to have therapeutic benefits in disorders such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse and post- traumatic stress disorder, so-called "internalizing disorders" that are characterized by debilitating flows of recurring negative thoughts. Clinical research suggests that DMT will disrupt the neuronal pathways underlying these negative thought processes and, by doing so, may facilitate the benefits of therapy given in combination with DMT.
DMT-assisted therapy targets the root cause of depression and other "internalizing" conditions and has the potential to provide a treatment with rapid onset and a long duration of activity following treatment.