NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – More Americans are suffering from depression, according to a Gallup study conducted in 2023. The study also found that minorities experience depression at twice the rate of white adults. New Mexico Frontier’s Chad Brummett spoke with one local company whose mission is to find solutions to this growing health crisis through genomic technology.
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Depression is on the rise in the United States. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Americans suffering from acute and prolonged depression has increased from 21.6% in 2019 to nearly 30% in 2023.
While there are a variety of factors that can cause depression, the most common treatment for the condition is a set of medications known as SSRI, which stands for “selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.” However, patients know them better as “citalopram, Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft.”
A typical diagnosis of depression goes something like this. First, you go to your doctor and talk through your symptoms. Then, they come to a diagnosis of depression and prescribe an antidepressant. Then, you have to wait to see if that medication is working. According to Circular Genomics CEO Paul Sargeant, that process can take anywhere from a few weeks to a year.
“There’s been so much stigma surrounding depression, and I think that’s now lifting. We need better approaches, better, diagnostic tools, and better prognostic tools,” said Sargeant.
That is the mission at Circular Genomics. Founded in 2021 by University of New Mexico alum Dr. Nicholas Melius, the company has isolated a particular molecule known as “Circular RNA.”
“It’s highly expressed in brain tissue. It crosses the blood-brain barrier and is found in the blood. So we can understand what’s happening inside the brain from the blood,” said Sargeant.
Because Circular RNA can be found in the blood, Circular Genomics has been developing a test that will greatly reduce the wait time to see if the prescribed antidepressant is working in the patient.
The company will be conducting a laboratory-developed test in September called “The Mind Light Antidepressant Response Test.” If the test is successful, that means they can get their product on the market sooner and potentially help millions of Americans suffering from mental illness. “I personally lost a couple of friends through depression. And that’s really the motivation to join the company and help the company get this test to market what we really hope to do. The overarching theme for the company is that we want to bring much more precision medicine to the area of mental health and neurology. So, the right drug to the right patient of the right time,” said Sargeant.
Sargeant said that if their trials go well this fall, they hope to begin rolling it out to market in 2025.
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