Welcome to Psychedelic Alpha.

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

Plus incubation, consultancy, and advisory for this emerging field. ∎

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Our latest insights

Bifurcation Squared: Compass Lobbies for Narrow Rescheduling in Colorado, Virginia; Pushes Back on State Policy Reforms

January 23, 2025

We take a look at Compass Pathways’ lobbying agenda, with a particular focus on a Colorado bill that the company is backing, as well as its quiet opposition to psychedelic decriminalisation and the creation of state-regulated programs like those passed in Oregon and Colorado. We also highlight a rescheduling trigger law bill in Virginia that specifically calls out ‘COMP360’.

Psychedelics in 2024: From Hype to Hard Realities

January 21, 2025

In this editorial, Psychedelic Alpha Editor Josh Hardman looks back at a challenging year which saw the FDA reject MDMA and a broader tempering of hype in the psychedelics field. But there were also wins, including government funding for psychedelic research in the U.S. and EU, as well as further contributions to the literature. 2025 is set to be a tumultuous year marked by political upheaval, pivotal trial readouts, and the future of psychedelic policy reform hangs in the balance.

mpathic Co-Founder Danielle Schlosser on AI Oversight of Psychedelics Trials

January 17, 2025

In our latest Pα+ interview, Psychedelic Alpha Editor Josh Hardman sits down with Danielle Schlosser, co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer at mpathic, an AI-powered software platform that aims to enhance sponsor oversight of clinical trials, including any psychosocial support element as well as clinical outcome assessments, which is used by some psychedelic drug developers.

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Entrepreneurs and Startups

Whether you’re at the idea-formation stage or raising early-stage funding, we’re here to help across the entire psychedelic value chain and company life-cycle.

ADVISORY & CONSULTANCY

Investors and Corporates

We help investors and corporates of all stripes understand and support the psychedelics space: from syndicates and VCs through to institutions.

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Psychedelic Insiders and the Curious

Join our newsletter to stay abreast of the rapidly emergent psychedelics industry: from clinical trials and patents through to healing centres and decriminalisation.

The Psychedelic Renaissance

After a half-century of prohibition, psychedelics are once again entering the mainstream.

Today’s so-called “psychedelic renaissance” is represented by a seemingly exponential increase in research and development activity, billions of dollars of funding, psychedelic policy reform initiatives and successes across the world, and changing public perceptions. ∎

Clinical Trials

Clinical trials involving psychedelics started, per year

Phase 3 trials of MDMA-assisted therapy have been completed, with Phase 3 study of psilocybin underway.

$4+ billion

Invested in public and private psychedelic companies since 2020.

Psychedelic policy reforms are gaining pace at the federal, state and local level in the U.S. and internationally.

80.9%

of psychiatrists agreed that psychedelics show promise in treating psychiatric disorders.

Barnett et al., 2023

On “Alpha”

‘Alpha’, in the investing world, refers to an excess return on investment relative to a benchmark. But we broaden the definition of alpha on both ends to include more than just economic returns on more than just economic investments.

Instead, we conceptualise alpha as the excess return on myriad investments that people may make in the present and future of psychedelics: beyond economic capital, people might invest time, energy, and effort, for example. And that excess return might not be (purely) financial, it might also be realised through a more impactful treatment paradigm for mental health, for example, where the ‘benchmark’ is the inadequate status quo.

All this to say, we’re not only for investors. In fact, most of our readers aren’t: many of them are practitioners, regulators, entrepreneurs, and so on. ∎