Amit Etkin, MD, PhD, Shares Insights Into EEG-Based Biomarkers to Tackle Placebo Effects in Psychiatry

At the recent Society of Biological Psychiatry meeting in Toronto, Canada, Alto Neuroscience presented 6 posters highlighting its ongoing efforts in biomarker-driven drug development.^1,2 In an exclusive interview with Psychiatric Times, Amit Etkin, MD, PhD, founder and CEO of Alto, discussed the 2 key research themes: predicting placebo response and advancing precision psychiatry via biomarkers and what the research means for the future of psychiatry.

One set of findings focused on developing a validated biomarker capable of predicting placebo response—an increasingly critical challenge in psychiatric drug trials, Etkin told Psychiatric Times. Etkin explained that high placebo responses can obscure the true efficacy of investigational drugs, leading to failed trials and abandoned compounds. Using machine learning applied to EEG data from hundreds of patients, Alto investigators identified a signal that reliably predicted placebo response and treatment effects more broadly. This biomarker was validated in multiple independent datasets and prospectively applied in randomized trials to reduce placebo-related noise, enabling a clearer view of drug efficacy, he said.

The second cluster of posters explored the molecular basis of an EEG biomarker used to identify patients likely to respond to Alto’s lead compound, ALTO-300. Etkin told Psychiatric Times that this work supports Alto’s broader precision psychiatry approach, which aims to match the right treatment to the right patient based on individual brain-based biomarkers.

Both research initiatives use machine learning to analyze EEG data—an accessible, non-invasive tool that could be scalable across clinical settings. According to Etkin, these developments represent a major step toward overcoming key limitations in psychiatric drug development and enabling more targeted, effective interventions for conditions like depression, bipolar depression, and schizophrenia.

Etkin told Psychiatric Times that the findings underscore Alto’s dual strategy: improving clinical trial design through biomarker stratification and advancing a pipeline of neuropsychiatric treatments tailored to biologically defined patient subgroups.

References

1. Alto Neuroscience Presents New Data at the Society of Biological Psychiatry Annual Meeting Underscoring Precision Psychiatry Approach. Press release. April 28, 2025. Accessed May 15, 2025. https://investors.altoneuroscience.com/news/news-details/2025/Alto-Neuroscience-Presents-New-Data-at-the-Society-of-Biological-Psychiatry-Annual-Meeting-Underscoring-Precision-Psychiatry-Approach/default.aspx

2. Wang C, Ravindran AS , Rose M, et al. An EEG Biomarker for Predicting Placebo Response in Major Depressive Disorder: Development and Validation Across Open-Label and Double-Blind Trials. Presented at Society of Biological Psychiatry 80^th Annual Meeting; Toronto, Canada; April 24-26, 2025.