Psychedelic Alpha

Pα+ is the insider’s guide to the business, policy and science of psychedelics.

Independent data-driven reporting, analysis and commentary on the psychedelics space: from business and drug development through to policy reform and culture.

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Judge Sends Terran’s Trade Secrets Suit Against Compass to Trial

In August 2022, Terran Biosciences sued Compass Pathways, alleging the company had “milked” University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) researcher Scott Thompson for confidential research before quietly filing its own patent application on the same idea. More than four years later, the case has a trial date, with a 10-day jury trial set to begin on September 13, 2027. 

In its latest quarterly report, which discloses the summary judgment ruling and trial date, Compass said it “strongly disputes the allegations, believes it has substantial defenses to the claims and intends to defend the matter vigorously.” It also said that “the trade secret at issue is not used in the Company’s investigational COMP360 psilocybin treatment” and that “Terran does not allege otherwise.”

Read more on our website: psychedelicalpha.com/news/p%ce%b1-p…

APA Petition Contemplates Formation of Psychedelics Division

The American Psychological Association (APA) is currently accepting signatures from its members and fellows on a petition that aims to create a Division of Psychedelic Science and Practice within the organisation. 

“[T]he proposed Division of Psychedelic Science and Practice is organized around a distinct body of psychological science”, the proposers write, “the study of altered states of consciousness, therapeutic mechanisms of change, preparation and integration processes, cultural and ethical dimensions of practice, and the psychological factors that mediate outcomes.”

Sign the Petition: apa.org/about/division…

“This is, believe it or not, my first public talk about about the psychedelics field since I returned to the FDA last June”, Mike Davis, Director of FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), said this morning in addressing the audience at BrainFutures’ Frontiers event in Washington, D.C.

Compass Files Psilocybin for TRD New Drug Application with FDA

This morning, Compass Pathways announced the submission of its COMP360 psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) new drug application (NDA).

Read more on our website: psychedelicalpha.com/news/breaking-…