Speaker Bio
Senior Clinical Director with over 20 years’ experience in CNS drug development. Over 15 years developing medications to treat MDD and GAD. Current Clinical Science lead for the MM-120 (LSD) pivotal program for treatment of GAD with MindMed. Formerly Scientific Director at Takeda for development of BRINTELLIX/vortioxetine from 2007 through 2018. Clinical lead for regulatory submissions (NDA, sNDA and global submissions) for CNS drugs. Subject area expert, compound training and speaker training and development/presentation of educational materials for BRINTELLIX/vortioxetine. PhD in Research Methodology; author and coauthor of numerous publications.
ICPR 2024 Abstract
A Phase 2, Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Parallel-Group, Dose-Finding Trial of MM-120 (Lysergide D-Tartrate) for Treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is among the most common psychiatric disorders. It is characterized by persistent worry and apprehensiveness that manifests in a range of symptoms. However, current treatments are often ineffective or have intolerable side effects. We evaluated the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of MM-120 in patients with GAD. In this study, 198 adults with GAD and moderate-to-severe anxiety (HAM-A score ≥20) were randomized 1:1:1:1:1 to receive one dose of MM-120 at 25µg (n=39), 50µg (n=40), 100µg (n=40), or 200µg (n=40), or placebo (n=39). The primary objective was to assess the dose-response of MM-120 on HAM-A total score. Secondary endpoints included other efficacy measures, quality of life, and safety and tolerability. Both the 100µg and 200µg of MM-120 demonstrated clinically and statistically significant efficacy. The 100µg dose achieved the highest clinical activity with a significant reduction of 7.6 points in HAM-A total score compared to placebo at week 4 (-21.34 vs -13.75; P=0.0004). On Day 2, CGI-S scores showed a significant improvement of 1.8 points with 100µg versus 0.7 with placebo (P=0.0001). At week 4, 77.5% of subjects treated with 100µg showed a ≥50% improvement in HAM-A vs 30.77% with placebo; 50% achieved remission. Treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in 97.5% of participants treated with 100µg versus 56.4% with placebo. Most events were mild-to-moderate, occurred on dosing day, and consistent with the expected acute effects of MM-120. These findings suggest a rapid, robust, and durable clinical response to MM-120 in patients with GAD. Mind Medicine, Inc supported this study.