Usona Institute
Nonprofit pharmaceutical research organization conducting Phase 2 psilocybin trials for major depressive disorder — the non-commercial counterpart to COMPASS Pathways pursuing FDA approval.
Type: research
Location: Madison, Wisconsin
Membership: Research organization — not open membership
Venues: Clinical trial sites nationally
Activities: Psilocybin clinical trials, nonprofit pharmaceutical development, FDA IND research
About
Usona Institute is a nonprofit medical research organization based in Madison, Wisconsin, dedicated to developing psilocybin as a medicine and making it broadly accessible. Unlike COMPASS Pathways (a commercial entity), Usona is structured as a public benefit organization that will not profit from its drug development activities.
Usona's primary current project is a Phase 2 clinical trial of psilocybin for major depressive disorder (not just treatment-resistant depression, but the broader MDD population). If successful, this trial would support an IND and eventual NDA for a non-commercial psilocybin product.
Usona's non-commercial structure matters for access equity: if their psilocybin formulation reaches FDA approval, they have explicitly committed to pricing strategies that prioritize broad patient access rather than shareholder returns — a significant difference from the commercial model.
Why It Matters
Usona represents the non-commercial path to FDA-approved psilocybin — ensuring that if synthetic psilocybin is approved, it isn't exclusively in the hands of pharmaceutical companies with profit-maximizing pricing. Their MDD trial expands the potential patient population beyond the treatment-resistant focus of most other trials.
State Legal Context
See current psilocybin laws in Wisconsin.