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The field of psychedelic medicines—therapeutics that trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness—has spawned dozens of companies, including several that are publicly traded. Investors have recently been pouring money into them on the back of several trials indicating that these drugs could work in neuropsychiatric disorders like depression, addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In 2019, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave marketing approval to Janssen’s Spravato (esketamine), the S-enantiomer of ketamine, for depression that has failed to respond to two or more antidepressants. MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or ‘ecstasy’) may be headed for FDA approval after a positive phase 3 trial for PTSD, with a second phase 3 trial nearing completion. Delix Therapeutics is taking a different approach: it’s developing analogs of psychedelic drugs called psychoplastogens that reproduce the changes in neuronal activity without the often extreme subjective psychological effects.