About us
Why we exist
Several years ago our co-founders, George Goldsmith and Ekaterina Malievskaia, experienced the painful effects of depression within their own family. They discovered first-hand how hard it can be to find adequate mental health care for a loved one, and met many other patients and families who felt similarly helpless.
Motivated to find a new approach to mental health care, together with third co-founder Lars Christian Wilde, they started COMPASS with a commitment to putting patients at the heart of the company’s purpose.
At COMPASS, our vision is for a world of mental wellbeing. Every one of us is committed to discovering and developing new therapies that will help patients and their families, and ease the burden on our overstretched healthcare systems. For too many people, mental health care today isn’t good enough. We are determined to change that.
Our first major initiative is developing psilocybin therapy through late-stage clinical trials in Europe and North America for people with treatment-resistant depression. Read more about our science.
Our values
We have put a lot of thought into the kind of organisation we want to be, and make every decision with our four values in mind. We see them as four promises that define who we are, what we do, and how we do it.
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Compassionate
People suffering with mental health challenges should have options. Patients inspire us every day to change mental health care systems that don’t work for everyone. We are determined to improve mental wellbeing
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Bold
We are courageous. We do not accept the status quo in mental health care systems, therapies or perceptions. We believe a transformation is needed to reduce human suffering
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Rigorous
We are seeking answers to how novel therapies, like psilocybin therapy, may create new pathways to mental wellbeing. We’re basing every decision, and every hope, on meticulous evidence
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Inclusive
The surest way to bring new therapies to the greatest number of people is to work openly with stakeholders from the start. We collaborate to find ways to accelerate innovation and access for all
Our approach
How we operate as a business is as important to us as the science we pursue. We are motivated by what is right for patients, and by the need to advance research – on our own and in collaboration with others.
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We will ensure our therapies are accessible and affordable to all who might be helped by them
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We work to the highest standards of scientific rigour and integrity
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We are committed to collaborating with others to advance science that could lead to improved patient outcomes
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We publish all clinical study results, positive and negative, and encourage publication of all results from independent studies that use our psilocybin
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We develop our clinical research programme using recommended scientific processes from regulatory agencies