MISSOULA, Montana — A more targeted approach to mental health care could be on the horizon as some Montanans get involved in clinical trials exploring a different way to treat mental illness.
“Prescribing treatment right now is a matter of trial and error because all you need to inform yourself is the label of depression,” said Dr. Amit Etkin, founder and CEO of Alto Neuroscience.
Etkin, a former professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford, heads the California-based biotech company. Alto Neuroscience’s Research for Relief initiative aims to better target treatments for mental illness.
Current treatments diagnose people with broader illnesses, such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, Etkin explained. These treatments lack specificity and lump together many biological aspects.
“The consequence of that is that the drugs and other treatments that we have for them tend not to work very well and we don’t know who they actually work for,” Etkin told NBC Montana.
Alto is currently in FDA trials for four drugs that aim to more effectively treat major depressive disorder, which is a subset of depression, and schizophrenia.
The current hypothesis is that these drugs might help individuals with certain biomarkers.
The trial’s approach is decentralized, meaning people living in places like Montana, where there are no physical sites, can participate. Participants can test biomarkers at home with short tests on a computer or using an EEG, which measures brain activity.
The initiative had its first Montana participant in August 2022. The number grew to more than 100 Montanans in the research registry by the end of June.
Alto attributes this growth to continued awareness, unmet needs and a partnership with the Montana chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
“By bringing the research here, you reduce the time it takes to bring it – the actual care – to Montana,” said Matt Kuntz, executive director of NAMI Montana.
Before Alto, NAMI Montana had been trying for more than a decade to bring precision research into mental health care to Montana, Kuntz told NBC Montana.
Besides speeding up care, Kuntz said research without Montanans wouldn’t reflect how care is delivered in Big Sky Country, where challenges include a lack of providers.
Those interested in getting involved in the ongoing research can complete an online survey.
