A press release by MYND Sciences announced that the drug research and development company, MYND Life Sciences Inc. has their new intellectual patent for their method of finding biomarkers to diagnose depression and monitor symptoms during relapses.
This is unique for the mental condition that is usually diagnosed by self-reports. They believe their new patent will not only aid doctors in monitoring the current health status of patients, but in time will be use it on patients with not only depression but other diseases.
Life Sciences, which is dedicated to developing novel psychedelic drug options for the betterment of mental health, believe their new intellectual patent will serve to better understand an individual’s health status, and in turn, help researchers develop solutions.
Depression
Depression is characterized by a persistent lack of energy, feelings of hopelessness and sadness, anxiety, irritability, guilt, worthlessness, loss of pleasure in hobbies, difficulty concentrating, poor sleep, appetite changes, aches and pains, and thoughts of suicide. While many people will experience some symptoms, doctors will only diagnose those whose symptoms persist for at least two weeks. Individuals vary in their symptoms and the severity and duration of their experience. The mental condition is very common, affecting Americans more than almost any other mental disorder.
However, the rare community is extremely familiar with the condition. Some illnesses directly trigger depression, which has a high comorbidity with many other health conditions. Even those with unrelated illnesses are too often plagued by the tiresome condition, with factors like stress, health concerns, and isolation recognized as common precursors to the onset. Others are frustrated by how the condition’s murky criteria has led doctors to misdiagnose them with depression, missing the underlying cause altogether. Alternatively, the presence of depression can deter doctors from extrapolating and finding greater underlying health conditions.
Using Biomarkers to Diagnose Depression
In an effort to more accurately define and measure a condition too often cloaked in ambiguity and defined by a person’s report of mental symptoms and sluggishness, the team wanted to put together a tool that can more precisely understand the biological workings and validate the physical nature of the condition.
The researchers compiled their criteria to be measured by their patented sample preparation methods platform, Stable Isotope Standards and Capture by Anti-Peptide Antibodies (SISCAPA), which measures a selection of proteins that serve as biological markers. The data is analyzed by mass spectrometry (MS), resulting in a more precise reflection of the condition.
Scientists remarked the improvements make it much easier to attach tangible data to a diagnosis, and to extrapolate the nature of their condition. While depression was in need of a more accurate set of criteria to be measured by, actually utilizing the monitoring technology is surprisingly easy. Dr. Wilfred Jefferies, the company’s Chief Science Officer, said,
“The SISCAPA technology vastly improves the logistics of blood-marker testing. Utilizing SISCAPA technology in concert with our proprietary panel of biomarkers aimed at diagnosing and monitoring Major Depressive Disorder may allow us to far more accurately and efficiently monitor the outcomes in our clinical trials, thereby allowing our scientific team to more precisely refine our drug formulations.”
The low-burden technology is still able to produce a surprising amount of data.
“The precision by which SISCAPA has improved mass spectrometry-based diagnostics with the ability to produce concrete analytics from dried blood rather than vials of whole blood and other bodily fluids is impressive,” continued Dr. Jefferies.
A Mental and Physical Condition
Beyond the precision of their methods results, recognizing the physical markers gives grounding to patients and doctors who are working with an often misunderstood condition. Their findings demonstrate the condition is beyond a mindset and recognizes the holistic and objective nature of the condition. The CEO of MYND, Dr. Lyle Oberg said,
“For decades, the diagnosis of depression relied almost exclusively on the various iterations of the DSM manuals in psychiatry, which relies on self-reporting and physician observation of symptoms to make a proxy-based conclusion that is less precise than many other more objective diagnostic tools in the field of medicine.”
The team intends to commercialize their new panel by 2022, enabling other research teams to use it in the assessment of Major Depressive Disorder and other conditions. Meanwhile, they intend to use the platform to improve their own drug development research in their mission to create novel psychedelic treatments for unmet mental health needs. They expect that being able to understand the biological effects may lead to a biological answer.
Oberg said,
“This is significant in MYND’s overall objective of developing a pharmacological treatment for Major Depressive Disorder that provides the potential for much more precise qualitative and quantitative diagnostic confirmation of MYND’s biomarkers for depression.”
