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Psychedelics: Quo Vadis?2026-07-21

There is a lot of excitement, hope, and missionary drive in the psychedelic community. Results from clinical trials are encouraging. Pharmaceutical giants are acquiring smaller psychedelic companies, making it more likely that the drugs will make it to market, and then be widely available.

The anecdotal, and now emerging clinical trials evidence, that psychedelics can get people unstuck from negative brain states and patterns, and help them move forward with their lives, is compelling. It is like a reset of a computer stuck in a loop, or like a chemical ECT. Additional layers of meaning and spirituality are harder to quantify, but may be germane as well to the therapeutic effects.

What is not forgotten by most experienced psychiatrists is that these drugs have a potential for abuse, and a risk of making people manic and psychotic. Those are some of the reasons they have been tightly controlled in the past.

The best of both worlds would be to have them available for use, but only use them in the patient sub-populations that would benefit and have minimal risks. A comprehensive mental health assessment, including precision psychiatry approaches with blood biomarker testing, would ensure that. We need not wait as a field for the drugs to be on the market and then encounter adverse events and negative headlines. This strategy can be incorporated as part of their clinical trials for approval. Our MindX One Blood Testing, which has biomarker panels for stress, pain, mood, psychosis, and suicidality risk, could safely guide the way for patients, clinicians, and pharmaceutical companies (https://mindxsciences.com/bloodtests/ ).

Live. Happier. Longer.

Alexander B. Niculescu, MD, PhD

Founder +CEO| MindX Sciences