Ep. 256, Chapter 3: Successes And Failures In The Psychedelic Therapy Space With Srinivas Rao

13:30 – 24:05

Reflecting on his experience at other drug companies, Dr. Srinivas Rao emphasizes the importance of prioritizing patient-reported outcomes and starting with the end in mind. atai designed its VLS-01 compound to fit existing healthcare infrastructure and gained significant insight from the Spravato® path to market. Rao also discusses the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies’ (MAPS) failed attempt to gain FDA approval for its MDMA-assisted therapy due to non-standardized therapy protocols, unblinded trial designs, and inadequate trial size.