The Department of Veterans Affairs is touting a new psilocybin trial as relief for veterans with treatment-resistant depression, but the study won’t finish until 2031, and any treatment it yields would come later still.
Psilocybin Trial Details
The trial, called PIVOT, will enroll veterans with treatment-resistant major depression, with or without post-traumatic stress disorder, at VA facilities in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Portland, Oregon; Philadelphia; and Seattle. It is a Phase 3 study, the final stage of testing before a drug maker can seek FDA approval. Participants will receive two dosing sessions with psychological support, and researchers will track their depression symptoms over six months.
The VA has not said what the trial will cost. Its August announcement listed five study sites, two psilocybin doses and a target of 240 veterans, but no price tag. The trial’s federal record lists the VA Office of Research and Development as its sponsor.
Background and Context
A VA report published this year found that 6,398 veterans died by suicide in 2023, the most recent year available, while the suicide rate per 100,000 veterans rose for both men and women that year. President Donald Trump’s April executive order cited the persistent toll of veteran suicide, more than 6,000 a year for over two decades, in calling for accelerated research into new treatments.
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
