Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend: April 24th, 2026

20:46Carol Massar:Kabir, one thing I want to go back to what you said, significant results. What does that mean, significant, as a result of the studies? And is it lasting? Is it something that once this is done, I hate to say a person's cured, but I would like to say a person's cured, that they will have a different health trajectory going forward. So can you just address those two? Absolutely. So what we showed in one of the studies was that a quarter of all patients had a real meaningful reduction in their symptoms from just one administration. In the second study, that goes to 40%. And to your point on durability, what we're showing is that from just one or two administrations, one or two sessions with psilocybin, that can last out to six months.

21:34So while this would not be characterized as a cure, what that suggests is for many patients, maybe just two or three or four sessions a year can keep them well over the long term. And again, compared to anything that's available for this population, and again, these are patients with this chronic recurrent depression, people who have typically been failed by multiple medicines over the course of their illness, this truly is transformational and game-changing. And look, I'd also remind people that, you know, when we think about treatments such as this for anything, whether we're talking about GLP-1s, you know, it's not like you take one shot and you don't have to take any more again.

22:16And one doctor told me with regard to comparing GLP-1s to like exercise, for example, you know, to stay fit, you have to keep going to the gym over and over again. So, you know, you can think about treatment like that.

22:29Carol Massar:And listen, I do think about this, Kabir, because I think we all know people who have either been in a tough way and numerous medications just don't do it. And so if you can actually help somebody live a more normal or a normal and healthy life and feel good, it's a game changer for them. So let's go to the executive order. I believe on the executive order, you said that Saturday's order was a, quote, important step forward in accelerating access without compromising rigorous science. So tell us a bit more about this executive order, what it really means. What will you do differently or what can you do differently now because of it?

23:11Yeah, well, first, we welcome the executive order because it's really grounded in two fundamental principles. First, that patients urgently need new treatments and they've waited too long for that. But second, that it must be informed by rigorous science. So the focus on FDA approved medicines, doing the studies to the right level and so on. So we welcome the executive order. What it talked to was some potential regulatory flexibility around the FDA moving perhaps faster. And there's talk of certain vouchers being given out. We don't yet know who may receive those, but that's one element. And second, these medicines today are illegal.

23:51So until and unless they receive approval, they are not able to be made available. There is the DEA needs to change that status and executive order accelerates the process of that. So taken together, this is really about first those medicines like ours that are very late in development, potentially getting to patients significantly sooner. But it also encompasses another and other executive, another other actions that potentially make it easier to research these medicines, which today is complicated and takes time and a lot of money because of some of the restrictions that have been around them.

24:31but also directs a number of agencies within the government to work together to really build the implementation the infrastructure and to accelerate the potential for psychedelics to get to patients across the spectrum of serious mental illnesses and i would assume together we no forgive me

24:47Carol Massar:forgive me no i was just thinking though as you were saying that the you know expediting everything and that includes i was thinking tim coverage by health care as well like well that's certainly yeah part of this a big part of it well so answer that and go there go there for us what it what it means for this to be expedited, what the next step of actually getting this covered by insurance, at least here in the United States, would be? What's the outlook for that? So assuming an FDA approval, so if we are approved for COM 360, then we believe that the data we've generated showing the efficacy and the safety, this is well-tolerated, generally safe.

25:25First, we need that to get an FDA approval. And then we will take that data, that profile, and work with commercial insurers, government payers as well. And we're confident in the strength of that data, particularly relative to anything that's available for patients with this chronic refractory depression today. And we're confident in delivering that value through insurance to patients. Okay, we'll have to wait on that one. You know, there are a lot of steps before that that actually happens. But before you get there, and because you are a publicly traded company, there are a lot of companies that are working on using psychedelics to treat treatment resistant depression.

26:06Where do you think about differentiation? And like, what's your biggest competitive advantage to other companies that are working on this? First, we are significantly ahead of other companies. So I think it's important to say that we have the potential, if approved, to be the first in here. But again, psychedelics are very different. So there are a number of dimensions of difference around the different modalities. There is the nature of the experience. Psilocybin is an experience typically a patient will be wearing eye shades, with music playing, in a relaxed environment, exactly as we have used in our clinical trials.

26:43It's a very inner directed experience. It's an experience where the patient is working through the acute psychedelic experience, allows them to work through their sense of self, their sense of self in relation to their symptoms. That's a very different experience from some other psychedelics. And so those differences in terms of the experience, the nature of the subjective experience, as well as perhaps duration and so on, those will actually all become apparent over time. We believe, again, with the rapidity, durability we've already shown, and nobody else has come close to doing the size of studies we've done yet to come to that.

27:22With that and the nature of the experience itself with psilocybin, that indeed will be differentiated and will be compelling both to providers and to patients.

27:32Carol Massar:So I am curious too, though, you know, we were thinking about this, Kabir, when we were thinking about talking with you, that if you go back to 2024, you did see the FDA reject an MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD from Lycos Therapeutics. They were a private company, I should point out. And they cited the quality of research and questions over the clinical trial design. Is there anything Compass is doing differently to ensure it won't meet the same fate? Or do we need to be worried at all? We have conducted a very different program. So the Lycos program was designed many years ago in a different era.

28:11Compass has conducted this really to the highest standards of rigor. first in our two late-stage studies, we actually have over 800 patients represented. The studies themselves are very well aligned with the FDA's own draft guidance from three years ago for how they want to see studies designed. We have been incredibly rigorous about collecting all safety data, all elements of the subjective experience and how they impact on it. And also, we are not providing therapy alongside the drug. This is we're providing the medicine with support, with patient safety, absolutely the heart of it. So it's really a very, very different model from the MDA model, not only in terms of what it actually means for the patient, but also in the way that we have conducted the trial.

28:58So we are confident that based on the data we're seeing, based on the robustness of that data, we will have a very different experience with the regulatory process. Kabir, on that, and only 20, 30 seconds left on this to follow on Carol's question, what are the remaining clinical risks for psilocybin therapy in treatment-resistant depression? We will work with the agency. We are already working with the agency. We believe strongly that the data we've shown on efficacy and safety is compelling, but ultimately it is the FDA's decision as to whether to approve. We are excited about what the EO means for us.

29:34We're excited about the path forward. and getting this to patients as soon as possible.

29:38Carol Massar:Bottom line, it's a big change, big move, that executive order. It is, absolutely. It's a great move for the field. All right, Kabir, always appreciate the time that you've given us over the months, over the years, and really appreciate you coming on, especially as this is certainly a sector we're watching in today's trade. Kabir Noth, CEO of Compass Pathways.

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32:20Just say, Alexa, play Bloomberg 1130. We spend a lot of time talking about crude oil, the sharp war-driven surge that we've seen, other commodities, inputs for fertilizer, chemicals, and more. Soybean oil futures, Carol, up a whopping 37 % so far this year.

32:38Carol Massar:Yeah, I mean, that surge in energy prices over the last few months, I mean, if you think about it, has boosted demand for alternative fuel feedstocks. But this whole thing in terms of the war, the environment, the macro, we have seen a real change in the narrative, especially when it comes to input prices. and it has played its way through the economy, the global economy. Curious how Lauren Berger and Marla Felton are looking at this. They're the co-founders of Real Cookies. They join us here in the Bloomberg studio. Welcome. It's been three years since you were last here. I wasn't even here when they were last here.

33:08Matt Miller was here eating all these cookies.

33:10Carol Massar:I was trying to remember because Matt loved them, took them home to his little ones. He probably only had one little one then. Yeah, he did only have one. He's now certainly expanded. Yes, he has. So you guys do not use soybean oil in the cookies. But other ingredients go in that are affected by the commodity price shocks that we've seen thus far. Just talk to us about the last seven weeks and how you've adjusted to higher energy costs and potential other supply chain disruptions. Well, since our business is now national, we have to ship product from one part of the United States to another part of the United States.

33:44Carol Massar:And sending products in trucks becomes more expensive when fuel prices are higher. You know, Marla, come on in on this, because I do think we wanted to start macro because every business, every business owner, CEO, head of an institution has had to kind of grapple with what's been going on in the macro. What of the macro does most concern you? You guys talked about transportation. That's certainly one of them. Yeah, transportation, but also because of our products are made with real ingredients. Almond flour, almonds are the base of our cookies. And we use maple syrup. So these are real foods.

34:22Carol Massar:They're not chemicals, right? A lot of foods out there, a lot of processed foods. If you look at the back of the... Terrifies me. It's frightening, right? And if you look at our ingredient list, and we have a yes, no on the back there, you can see on the real cookies. We have a very short list of ingredients. So we always have to have redundancy, right? So we have multiple suppliers. we have to make sure that we can get our product something like maple syrup if there's weather issues right in vermont we have to or we have maple syrup if if we're coming from canada right uh tariff so there's always challenges in thinking about how we are going to produce these cookies all right so i'm just showing for everybody so here's the ingredients on the cookies as as our guys push in i mean it's not but there's the list on to the other side too the green part and the red part so yes almond coconut so look at this guys oh okay yes almond flour yes real vanilla yes maple syrup yes premium chocolate yes natural peanut butter no gluten no grain no dairy no eggs no corn no soy no artificial sweet sweeteners but it's really funny and you've got some other products that we're going to talk about i mean it's just a couple of ingredients um how much more difficult tim and i talk about food a lot we both care he's got little a lot too So talk about it, I eat it.

35:42Carol Massar:There's banana here, there's other stuff, there's other stuff. But how difficult is it to really get healthier products? Talk about that supply chain, talk about the costs, and talk about that process. Well, we're always managing costs, and our costs of goods are continuously increasing. But we want to give products to consumers that are made out of real food. So our goal is to keep our ingredient list very short and get as much real food to as many people as possible. Is it a tougher nut? Because I think there are reasons that people throw a lot of other different ingredients when you're doing something like this.

36:17Carol Massar:So is it tougher to kind of restrict it? And what are those supply chains like? It is, again, because there literally can be a shortage of almonds or a shortage of maple syrup. And so you're not getting it. But I think that today, people are really caring about what they're eating. There's a lot more awareness of how food is not just to feed you, but it's to feed your body. It's for health. So I think even though prices can rise and products can be more expensive than some of the mass market foods, I think that people are willing to pay a little bit more for better quality real food and to know that they're feeding their family something that's good for them.

37:03Carol Massar:You guys obviously seen it. The business has grown and maybe talk about that. Tell us about, last time we talked was three years ago, right? Like what have you guys seen since then? Well, we've had some exciting news with our merger. So we did merge with another company, Creations Foods, and this merger has really created a vertically integrated platform for us. So we have greater resources to do ingredients, supply chain synergies, to do R &D development, to move and get new products to the market quicker. What are you doing with R &D? I mean, if you think about the portfolio of snacks that you have as a result of this merger, where do you see the opportunity for white space or what is out there that's not there yet?

37:50Because this is an incredibly competitive landscape. Yeah.

37:54Carol Massar:Well, with the increase of GLP-1 usage, the way we snack and the way we eat is changing dramatically. Meaning high protein. High protein, low sugar, fiber. So we are formulating with all of that in mind. Are you reformulating existing things as a result? We are looking at reformulating existing things, but we're also, we have a very long innovation plan of products that we want to bring to market that are just better and improved on what we have. Like? Well, we're actually, we have a whole breadth of items from sweet to more savory. When would we expect to see those? By this time next year. We'd love to be back to talk about.

38:33Carol Massar:It takes a long time. It takes a long time to develop products. So it sounds like also broadening. Like I am curious in terms of the cookies. Now, Matt Miller was here last time and he was like, I love them. And I know already somebody in the newsroom, our Sebastian, I think, who also loves them is like swiped a bag and is sampling them. These are adults. how much of your what you guys are doing has been really for kids how much of it increasingly even adults who do care about what they're eating is they're consuming them and then how much of when you think about expanding is it going to an older popular an adult population i'm just curious about that mix well for the real brand in particular we're focusing on the whole family yeah and so parents parents with children thinking about feeding everyone in the family from young children through adults.

39:19Carol Massar:And actually, this is something that's very important to us. And Marla and I created a program called Real Food is Fuel. And we actually go into elementary schools and teach young people how to read nutrition labels. So they know when they pick up a package how to find out what's in it, and how to think about where each ingredient has come from. I love that. I mean, I've talked often on air, my daughter has been like that for years. And part of that is us. And it's taken, you know, you kind of, it wasn't that way. And maybe it was, as we started to put up calories, you know, in terms of when you go to order food.

39:50Carol Massar:But I know she's done that for a long time. And I think it's part of it is because we've increasingly done that. Yeah. I also, I mean, I personally also think it has to do with getting older. Yeah. And, you know, understanding that when you're in your 20s, you, although your daughter is in her 20s, but she is, you know, you can't kind of get away with what you were doing in your 20s when you're in your 30s. Marla, I want to go back to what you said about maple syrup and the rising costs as a result of tariffs. Our conversation started with the macroeconomic backdrop of supply crunches as a result of the war.

40:20When it comes to something like maple syrup or other of these ingredients that could be subject to tariffs, what have you had to do from a pricing perspective over the last year and price adjustments? Like, have you had to raise prices? Tell us what you've done or hit margins. What has happened?

40:35Carol Massar:I mean, we have planned for larger margins. So you ate a lot of this. We ate a lot of it when that happened. However, we aim for 50 % margin. So when something like that happens, it brings it down. But we're still okay. Does it cause you to say, okay, well, maybe we're not going to be able to get maple syrup from Canada. We're going to have to get it from Maine or Vermont. Does it do that? That's the whole idea with tariffs. Absolutely. And I think it also broadens our thought. We've had a lot of conversation about maple syrup. I think we're probably one of the only cookie brands that uses maple syrup.

41:11And part of that is because it's expensive, but it has a low glycemic index.

41:17Carol Massar:And then when you match maple syrup with a protein like almond, it does not spike your sugars, your insulins. So it's much better for you. So we love maple syrup, but we are being creative and we're looking for other ways that we can sweeten our products naturally. We are not a fan of a lot of gluten-free products, put a lot of stuff in there that shouldn't be in there. And a lot of people use fake sugars, right? Sugar alcohols, things that don't feel good on your body. So I think that people also are realizing, you can say, well, something doesn't have sugar. But sometimes a little bit of something is better than something that's fake or can do harm to your body.

42:04Carol Massar:And one thing, when we came here, it was right after the pandemic. And I have to say another thing is that post-pandemic, we have learned a lot more about health. So we both come from families who have health issues. My daughter had a significant health issue for most of her life, still has a chronic health issue. But what we've learned because of all the research that has come post-COVID is that there's so much inflammation in our body. and the processed foods and these fake ingredients that we're eating are making us sick. And so if we can eat with maple syrup, so I think we're experimenting, how can we bring the amount of maple syrup down and maybe add a little bit something else natural to keep it sweet?

42:48Carol Massar:What do you make of an administration, I'm not looking for politics, but whether it's the FDA or our health and services secretary in terms of what they're saying about health and what to eat. I've also worked a bunch in the patient advocacy space just because of our health challenges in our family. And I think parents especially and people who have chronic illness themselves know what they need to do. And I think the most important, and Lauren and I are both big researchers, so we read everything. And when we're sourcing our ingredients, everything is really well thought. But I think that my message to all consumers is read as much as you can, right?

43:37Carol Massar:And you have to look at different sources. You have to go, and when you're reading, go and look at the scientific research yourself and look at how the studies were set up. So don't take someone else's word for what is healthy, what is good for you, what is bad for you. Really read and do your own research. Lauren, have you changed the way that you eat as a result of starting this company? I think I've always kind of eaten on the healthier side. I was an athlete after college, and I know directly that when I eat something that isn't made with good ingredients, I just don't feel good. It's a very easy on-the-go snack.

44:14Carol Massar:I'll take the next year. I've already taken it. really love it thank you guys for coming back keep coming back thank you thank you so much how the business is evolving we've been talking with Lauren Berger and Marla Felton they are of course co-founders of Get Real Foods joining us right here in our Bloomberg interactive broker studio guys thanks this is the Bloomberg Business Week Daily Podcast available on Apple Spotify and anywhere else you get your podcasts listen live weekday afternoons from 2 to 5 p.m. Eastern on Bloomberg.com the iHeartRadio app, TuneIn, and the Bloomberg Business app. You can also watch us live every weekday on YouTube and always on the Bloomberg Terminal.

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