In a key step for psy­che­del­ic re­search, mag­ic mush­room com­pound clears first clin­i­cal safe­ty hur­dle

Ex­as­per­at­ed with the of­ten-in­ef­fec­tive ex­ist­ing slate of an­ti­de­pres­sants, COM­PASS Path­ways set up shop in Lon­don 2016 — and made a bee­line for psilo­cy­bin, the psy­choac­tive in­gre­di­ent in mag­ic mush­rooms.

On Wednes­day, the start­up said its man-made ver­sion of the chem­i­cal — which is il­le­gal across ge­o­gra­phies in its nat­ur­al fun­gi form — had been well-tol­er­at­ed in an ear­ly-stage, place­bo-con­trolled tri­al in 89 healthy vol­un­teers.

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