LSD Anxiety Win; Pimavanserin Schizophrenia Flop; ‘Bright Light’ for Depression?

In a phase IIb study, a single dose of an investigational LSD-containing drug (MM120) led to significantly greater reductions in 12-week scores on the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale compared with placebo, according to Mind Medicine. These data and prior positive trial findings prompted the FDA to designate the drug as a breakthrough therapy for generalized anxiety disorder, the company said, a pathway that helps expedite the development and review of a product.

From 2019 to 2021, the percentage of U.S. youth with a severe mental health impairment held relatively steady, wavering from 9.7% to 9.4%. (JAMA Psychiatry)

Meanwhile, large increases in total medical spending from 2017 to 2021 were seen in U.S. households where a child has a mental health condition. (JAMA Network Open)

Pimavanserin (Nuplazid) failed to significantly improve negative symptoms of schizophrenia compared with placebo in the phase III ADVANCE-2 trial, Acadia Pharmaceuticals announced. The company does not plan to conduct further clinical trials with the atypical antipsychotic, which carries an indication for hallucinations and delusions related to Parkinson’s disease.

In a trial in Pakistan, cognitive behavioral therapy delivered by non-specialists was effective at significantly reducing postpartum anxiety and depression, reducing the odds by 81% compared with placebo. (Nature Medicine)

Adding 10,000 lux of “bright light” therapy to inpatient treatment wasn’t any better than 100 lux of placebo red light for youth with moderate to severe depression. (JAMA Psychiatry)

Tele-supervised at-home transcranial direct current stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for 8 weeks yielded a median 64.5% drop in depression scores, a single-arm pilot study found. (medRxiv)

Montefiore Medical Center announced plans to build a 21-bed inpatient pediatric psychiatric unit within the New York City Children’s Center campus.

An “open-door” policy at urban psychiatric inpatient wards was non-inferior to treatment-as-usual, a practice that could reduce use of coercive measures, a randomized study from Norway suggested. (Lancet Psychiatry)

Researchers found that symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in youth were linked with atypical interactions between the brain’s frontal cortex and information processing centers deep in the brain. (American Journal of Psychiatry)

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