Learn More About CPT Codes! In This Interview With Kabir Nath And Steve Levine From COMPASS Pathways

Benzinga

COMPASS Pathways is a biotechnology company dedicated to accelerating patient access to evidence-based innovation in mental health. Their focus is on improving the lives of those who are suffering from mental health challenges and who are not helped by current treatments.

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:01 - Hey everyone, it's Jordan Robertson with Benzinga,

00:03 and today I'm here with CEO Kabir Nath,

00:05 and SVP of Patient Access and Medical Affairs,

00:07 Steve Levine of Compass Pathways.

00:09 How are you guys?

00:10 - Good, thanks.

00:11 Nice to see you, Jordan.

00:12 - You too, thank you.

00:13 - Nice to see you as well.

00:14 Can you introduce yourselves

00:15 and give us a quick intro into what Compass does?

00:18 - Sure, I'm Kabir Nath.

00:19 I'm the CEO of Compass Pathways,

00:21 and just coming up to celebrating a year in that role.

00:24 - And I'm Steve Levine.

00:25 I am Senior Vice President

00:27 of Patient Access and Medical Affairs,

00:29 and I've been with Compass for three years now.

00:31 - Amazing, and Kabir, can you tell us a little bit

00:33 about what you do at Compass, or what Compass does?

00:36 - Absolutely.

00:37 Compass Pathways is a biotechnology company

00:40 that is devoted to generating evidence

00:44 for new innovations, for innovative patterns of care,

00:47 for treatment of serious mental illness.

00:49 And our first program is COMP360,

00:52 psilocybin therapy for the treatment

00:54 of treatment-resistant depression,

00:55 which is our primary focus right now.

00:57 - Steve, tell us about this new CPT-3 code

01:00 and why is it important?

01:01 - Very happy to.

01:02 The CPT-3 code is a form of reimbursement code

01:07 that really is a key milestone along the path

01:09 to trying to create equitable and broad patient access

01:13 to psychedelic treatment, should they be approved.

01:15 - Wonderful, and Kabir,

01:16 how does this fit into Compass's core mission?

01:18 - So right from the start,

01:20 Compass has been founded with a mission

01:22 of bringing access to as many patients as possible

01:26 for innovative treatments.

01:27 And therefore, it's essential for us

01:30 that we work within the system to generate evidence,

01:33 to get to an FDA approval,

01:35 but then beyond that, are able, through reimbursement,

01:38 to ensure that it's available to as many patients

01:40 as quickly as possible.

01:42 The other part I'd say is,

01:44 we have always been looking to the long-term goal of that,

01:48 and that's why we have done this work so far in advance,

01:51 to enable us really to work with providers

01:55 using that CPT-3 code,

01:56 so that by the time we potentially get to market,

01:59 if we're approved, the infrastructure and the ability

02:01 for that reimbursement is already in place.

02:04 - And Steve, how about you?

02:05 What's your take?

02:06 - Building on Kabir's point,

02:07 there are urgent needs that patients suffering

02:11 with severe mental illness are facing right now.

02:13 And as our mission is to accelerate that patient access,

02:17 creating the reimbursement framework

02:19 as early as possible means that as soon as possible,

02:22 post a regulatory approval,

02:24 we can ensure that the patients that are waiting

02:26 will receive the care that they so desperately need.

02:28 - Absolutely.

02:29 And Kabir, can you update us on your development program?

02:32 - Sure.

02:33 So our principal focus right now is our Phase III program

02:36 for treatment-resistant depression.

02:38 And there we have two pivotal Phase III trials

02:40 that are now underway.

02:42 In addition, we have a Phase II program,

02:45 proof of concept in anorexia nervosa,

02:48 and a Phase II program in PTSD,

02:51 a smaller program of 20 patients.

02:53 In addition, as a reminder,

02:55 we generated very robust data from a Phase IIB program

02:59 in treatment-resistant depression

03:01 that was published in the New England

03:02 Journal of Medicine last year.

03:04 And we also have a number of investigator-initiated studies

03:07 in areas like bipolar II, anorexia nervosa,

03:12 body dysmorphic disorder that are all building

03:14 to the body of evidence for COM 360 psilocybin therapy.

03:18 But our principal focus, as I say,

03:20 is the Phase III program in treatment-resistant depression.

03:23 And both of those pivotal trials are now underway.

03:26 - Wonderful.

03:27 And Steve, why is the CPT-3 code so important?

03:29 - CPT-3 codes as one type of CPT code.

03:33 And to define that,

03:34 those are current procedural terminology codes.

03:37 This is the system of codes used to describe procedures

03:42 and services reported by healthcare providers

03:45 to health insurance payers

03:47 in order to be reimbursed for their services.

03:50 Category III codes are a preliminary step

03:53 in order to track the delivery of new services

03:57 so that the work involved in delivering them

03:59 can be adequately described and understood

04:02 and ultimately adequately valued

04:04 with permanent Category I CPT codes.

04:07 - And just to add,

04:08 I think the reason this is so critical to us

04:10 is we recognize that for patients to be able to benefit

04:15 at scale from COM 360 psilocybin therapy,

04:18 it's essential not only that the drug is reimbursed,

04:21 which is work we will undertake,

04:23 but that also the provision of support,

04:25 psychological support during treatment is also reimbursed.

04:28 And we recognized early on

04:31 that it was incumbent upon us, Compass,

04:33 to ensure that that could happen.

04:35 - Absolutely.

04:36 Well, thank you guys so much for being here today.

04:37 That's all I have.

04:38 - Thanks, Jordan.

04:39 - Thank you, Jordan.

04:40 (upbeat music)

04:42 (upbeat music)

04:45 (upbeat music)

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