Unlike the same dose that involves reducing the dose of the drug at each time, the hyperbolic taper gradually slows down the reduction rate (as it speeds), and the final dose becomes smaller and smaller, so the final dose is very small and spreads over longer periods of time. To facilitate this, with a composite pharmacy partner, custom versions of customized antidepressants are produced in small doses that are not commercially available. In other words, while Outro promotes its own medication service, part of its business model depends on people continuing to take complex drugs prescribed by their clinicians.
Horowitz has become one of the leading experts in drug reduction in the UK, known as De Pressscripting, and his interest in the topic is driven by his experience of getting rid of antidepressants from antidepressants more than a decade ago when he was a PhD student in psychiatry. Horowitz has developed a step-by-step taper plan for himself, which involves the use of his research lab’s syringe to distribute small liquid doses of Escitalopram, the name of the brand name Lexapro. But he couldn’t stop the pain caused by stopping the use of the drug.
“My life exploded,” Horowitz said. His symptoms include severe insomnia and dizziness, which is so debilitating that he returns with his parents. “It took me years to stand out, not weeks as recommended by the guide.”
After recovery, Horowitz began pushing doctors to adopt new clinical guidelines to get rid of antidepressants. He co-authored the Royal College of Psychiatric Medicine Guidelines and joined the UK National Health Service as a clinical researcher. His goal with Outro is to develop him into a new patient-based, guided taper approach in North America.
Outro CEO Goode has a background in working in the pharmaceutical and telehealth fields, including Novo Nordisk’s tenure and psychedelic therapy startup Trip Health, now known as Stella. “People have been asking how to use psychedelics to get rid of antidepressants,” Good said, which led him to suspect that there might be a large population that will help to quit drugs.
Horowitz and Goode co-founded Outro in 2022 with another field trip alumnus Tyler Dyck. The company’s small team also includes Adele Framer, the founder of the surviving antidepressants, a long-running forum where people exchange tips on how to gradually reduce these drugs.
Opening a health startup in the United States is a full time to focus on getting people out of psychiatric drugs. Other Trump world figures expressed similar views, including Governor-General Architect Elon Musk, who told Tucker Carlson that Ssris was a “devil.”
Horowitz said he shared some of Kennedy’s concerns about whether antidepressants are overprescribed and severe withdrawal of withdrawal. But he uneasyly believes that Outro’s program can be seen as aligning with the health secretary’s broader move toward the United States again, especially when he thinks he is “to the left of Bernie Sanders.”
