For two decades, the six people in this story had lived with a condition that quietly ruled their lives. They had tried treatments and failed. They were averaging 2.3 binge-eating episodes every single week. Then something happened that no trial anywhere in the world had achieved before: after just two sessions, every single one of them got better.
This is the world's first pilot trial of psilocin — the active compound in magic mushrooms — delivered by IV infusion to treat binge-eating disorder. It took place at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, in partnership with the company Entropy Neurodynamics. Over the 84-day follow-up period, binge-eating episodes dropped by 73%. Half of the patients didn't have a single binge episode during the entire follow-up. Anxiety fell by 50%, depression by 42%, and quality of life improved by 61%.
The results matter because binge-eating disorder is far more than overeating. It is a debilitating, treatment-resistant mental illness that millions of people worldwide live with — many of them for decades. The participants in this trial had already failed other treatments, which is why these numbers feel almost startling.
The compound is called TRP-8803. It was given through just two IV infusions, and the improvements held up at the four-week mark, says Susan Rossell, Swinburne's director of clinical trials and project lead. "Changing the lives of these six participants is a huge feat," she says. "These were patients who had lived with binge-eating disorder for as long as 20 years and who had previously failed treatment."
What makes this approach different is its ambition. Entropy Neurodynamics CEO Jason Carroll is clear that the goal is not another daily pill. "We are not seeking to develop another medicine that patients need to take every day," he says. "We are investigating whether a limited number of precision-controlled psychedelic treatments can produce a clinically meaningful benefit that persists long after dosing has finished."
These are early data from a small study, Carroll admits. But the team is encouraged. Swinburne and Entropy Neurodynamics are now recruiting a second group of participants to test a shorter infusion regimen, hoping to make the treatment more efficient and easier to scale.
Rossell sees the bigger picture. "We hope that we can replicate these benefits across the millions of people suffering from this debilitating disorder around the world, and potentially even the millions of others experiencing other treatment-resistant mental illnesses who may have given up hope." If those hopes hold, a few guided sessions could one day replace years of daily struggle — for binge-eating disorder and beyond.