Quarterly Briefing: Q1 2026

Welcome to our first Pα+ Quarterly Briefing!

Every three months, our Founder & Editor Josh Hardman will walk you through major developments from the prior quarter across drug development, policy and regulatory, science and academia, and much more. He closes with a look ahead to the next quarter, so you know what to look out for.

This first Briefing, covering Q1 2026, includes Compass Pathways’ Phase 3 readout as well as data from Gilgamesh Pharma, AtaiBeckley, Helus Pharma, and DemeRx, with updates from other psychedelic developers like Definium Therapeutics and GH Research.

He also reviews financing and patent activity in Q1, including Otsuka's planned acquisition of Transcend Therapeutics, Gilgamesh's $60M Series A, Compass’ financings, Spravato’s sales, and takes a look at patenting-related activity for 2025 and Q1 2026.

On the regulatory and policy front, Hardman takes a deep dive into FDA, state and federal bills, the progress of state psychedelics programs, ibogaine-related advocacy efforts (including breaking news on Texas' program), and worldwide developments.

In terms of academia, Hardman walks through two much-discussed publications from Q1: EPIsoDE, the German psilocybin for TRD trial, and a meta-analysis of psychedelics vs. traditional antidepressants. He also covers some other publications, a new professorship in psychedelics at UW-Madison (Paul Hutson), and 16 new EU-funded PhDs.

Lastly, Hardman looks ahead to Q2, including upcoming readouts and trial initiations to watch, anticipated policy developments, and conferences and meetings...