Psychedelic News of the Week
Definium’s DT120, an LSD-based tablet, meets its goal in a third Phase 3 trial
Definium Therapeutics announced positive topline results from Panorama, its Phase 3 study of DT120, an orally disintegrating tablet of lysergide (LSD), for generalised anxiety disorder. It is the company’s third positive Phase 3 readout for the drug this year, following results in major depressive disorder in June and an earlier anxiety study in August. The trial met its primary endpoint, with participants on the 100-microgram dose showing significantly greater improvement on a standard anxiety scale than those on placebo, and effects appearing as early as day two. It positions DT120 as one of the furthest-along psychedelic medicines in development anywhere.
Johns Hopkins tests psilocybin for chronic Lyme disease
An estimated 10 to 20 percent of Lyme disease patients go on to develop post-treatment Lyme disease, a chronic syndrome of fatigue, pain, and brain fog for which there is no established treatment. In an open-label pilot study at Johns Hopkins, 20 such patients were given two psilocybin sessions alongside psychological support. Six months later, participants reported on average roughly a 40 percent reduction in their overall Lyme-related symptoms, along with better sleep, mood, and energy.
The study was small and uncontrolled, so it cannot prove psilocybin caused the improvements, but the authors call it a meaningful signal worth pursuing for a condition and other chronic post-infection illnesses with few options. The Washington Post told the story through one participant, Elizabeth Richwine, whose symptoms lifted for eight months before returning.
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Presley Gerber’s death reopens the debate over ibogaine and treatment abroad
Presley Gerber, a model and the son of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, died on September 20 at a Los Angeles rehabilitation facility at the age of 27. Police initially noted a possible overdose, and the cause of death remains pending an investigation. Six months earlier, Gerber had publicly shared his experience receiving an ibogaine flood dose at a clinic in Cancún, Mexico, as part of his long, openly documented struggle with addiction.
There is no evidence that ibogaine, a psychedelic legal in several countries but not the United States, played any role in his death months later. But his story has drawn renewed attention to the difficult reality facing people who travel abroad for treatments that remain unavailable, and unregulated, at home.
The DEA moves to schedule five obscure tryptamines
The US Drug Enforcement Administration is moving to classify five little-known tryptamines, including DiPT, 5-MeO-MiPT, 5-MeO-DET, 5-MeOAMT and 4-OH-DiPT, as Schedule I substances, the most restricted category. It marks the agency’s second attempt to control these compounds after a previous effort was withdrawn in 2022. One of them, DiPT, is unusual among psychedelics for producing primarily auditory rather than visual distortions, altering the way sound and music are perceived. Advocates argue that scheduling such rarely used compounds risks chilling legitimate research before it can begin.
