By Phoebe Southworth For Mailonline
The hallucinogenic powers of the psychedelic mushrooms are well known, but now they could be used to combat particularly severe forms of the condition.
British start-up Compass Pathways is poised to put this theory to the test with hundreds of patients who have untreatable depression.
It will hold a 400-patient trial aims to find out if psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, can help them.
A third of the 300million depression patients worldwide have a condition which is resistant to existing treatment.
In a study involving 20 patients last year, researchers at Imperial College London found that sufferers described a sense of their brains 'rebooting' after just two psilocybin experiences.
The 400-patient trial aims to see if psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms (pictured right) could be a breakthrough treatment for the condition
Ekaterina Malievskaia, co-founder and chief medical officer of the London-based start-up, started the business with her husband George Goldsmith.
They wanted to find a new way of treating depression after seeing a close family member suffer from the condition.
She told The Sunday Times: 'Based on previous trials, psilocybin provides an immediate and sustained relief from depression, instils a sense of wellbeing, and improves quality of life.'
Mr Goldsmith added: 'We need a new approach to tackling mental health.
'There is still a significant unmet need for a large number of patients living with this very challenging condition.'
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