Matthias Liechti

Academic, Clinician, Scientist

Matthias Liechti is a professor of clinical pharmacology and internal medicine at the University of Basel, Switzerland. Dr. Liechti is also an attending physician in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University and heads the pharmacology research group at Liechti Lab.

Dr. Liechti received his MAS in Clinical Research from the University of California, San Diego. He did his clinical training in internal medicine at the University Hospital of Zurich.

Dr. Liechti’s primary research focuses on the pharmacology of psychoactive compounds. This includes in vitro studies as well as conducting preclinical and clinical studies in humans. LSD and MDMA are among the psychedelic substances he is studying. Dr. Liechti is interested in the mechanism of action and pharmacokinetics of these substances. This includes how these compounds affect mood recognition, empathy, sexual arousal, prosocial behavior, and endocrine responses in the body. His lab also studies the effects of novel psychoactive substances.

Recently, Liechti Lab entered into an agreement with the psychedelic pharma company MindMed. In an April 1, 2020 MindMed press release, the companies announced a long-term partnership centered on Liechti Lab’s years of research on psychedelic compounds. Under the terms of the agreement, “MindMed gains exclusive worldwide rights to data, compounds, and patent rights associated with the Liechti laboratory’s research with LSD and other psychedelic compounds, including data from preclinical studies and eight completed or ongoing LSD clinical trials.”

Part of the technology emerging from the partnership was announced by MindMed in an April 21, 2020 press release. They announced a patent filing of what they call a “neutralizer technology” that can shorten and stop a patient’s LSD trip while they are undergoing therapy.

JR Rahn, co-founder, director, and co-CEO of MindMed told New Atlas, “The innovative and original work of the Liechti Laboratory is a treasure trove of novel data on LSD. We are just at the beginning of several significant discoveries that have the potential to further the application of psychedelics as therapeutic medicines. If developed, these discoveries will benefit both patients and therapists working in the psychedelic medicine space.”

Over his career, Dr. Liechti has published over 250 research papers. A list of his work is available at ResearchGate.

Barb Bauer Headshot

Barb is the former Editor and one of the founders of Psychedelic Science Review. She is currently a contributing writer. Her goal is making accurate and concise psychedelic science research assessable so that researchers and private citizens can make informed decisions.