The UK’s independent Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) has issued a rapid response on psychedelic-assisted therapy for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The response is intended to inform policymakers on the topic as increasing research around psychedelics shows the compounds may hold promise as innovative treatments in the area of mental health.

The rapid response is the third response on psychedelics to come from POST – one of the first independent bodies of its kind in the world that sources independent analysis of public policy issues relating to science and tech for government.

Previous responses have covered depressive disorders, anxiety disorders and eating disorders.

The response reads: “Research into the use of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD has been conducted using MDMA, ketamine, and the four ‘classical psychedelics’ (psilocybin, LSD, mescaline and DMT). These are described in POST’s rapid response article on depression.

“Generally, this approach involves ‘non-trip’ sessions with a medical professional to ensure safety, prepare the patient and build a relationship, and a minimum of one ‘trip’ session where the patient undergoes a form of talking therapy after administration of a psychedelic compound.

“Evidence from studies conducted in hundreds of participants suggests that psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy may be an effective treatment for PTSD. However, to date, there is not enough information from large clinical trials with sufficient participants comparing psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy directly to existing treatments.”

Responding to research and policy developments

POST’s responses on psychedelics have been issued following a parliamentary debate discussing psilocybin access in May 2023.

The debate saw a group of crossparty MPs call for the rescheduling of psilocybin to remove barriers to research and demand an urgent review of the evidence for psilocybin’s current status as a Schedule 1 drug under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, “with a view to rescheduling”.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists, psychedelic access non-profit Heroic Hearts UK, and other leading mental health charities, also wrote letters to the Veterans Minister and the Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire, urging them to champion access for patients in the UK.

The latest rapid response covers psychedelics for PTSD including Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for treating PTSD, MDMA, Ketamine, Classical Psychedelics and the Regulation of psychedelic drugs used in medicine.

Earlier this year, POST confirmed it intends to publish a major briefing on psychedelic drugs to treat mental health conditions in 2024.

A wealth of research is showing how psychedelic-assisted therapy holds promise for the treatment of mental health conditions such as depression, but what role does the therapist play in a patient’s outcome? A new study has suggested it may be a big one.

Psychedelics have piqued huge interest due to their effects on the brain. Research points to their ability to induce neuroplasticity in the brain as one of the key reasons they may help with conditions such as depression and anxiety.

However, set – the individual’s (or patient’s) mental state – and setting – the individual’s environment during a psychedelic experience – are hugely impactful on the outcome of these experiences.

In the traditional use of psychedelic medicines, shamans help to guide set and setting throughout the experience with singing, drumming and ritual. Today, in scientific research, trials, and in clinics, the clinician is essentially playing this role.

Senior author of a new study, Alan Davis, associate professor and director of the Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education in The Ohio State University College of Social Work, has highlighted that the impact of clinicians on patient outcomes is not new, with research consistently showing that a trusting relationship between patients and clinicians has been key to better outcomes. This concept is known as a “therapeutic alliance”.

Understanding the therapeutic alliance

To find out more about the impact of this therapeutic alliance in psychedelic therapy, researchers from Ohio State University College of Medicine analysed data from a clinical trial that investigated psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD).

In the trial, participants received two doses of psilocybin and 11 hours of psychotherapy, completing a therapeutic alliance questionnaire afterward, which assessed the strength of the therapist-participant relationship.

Participants also completed questionnaires about any mystical and psychologically insightful experiences they had during the drug treatment sessions. In psychedelic research, the mystical experience has often been shown to be related to the continuing positive effects of this therapy.

The Ohio team looked at the depression outcomes alongside patient reports about their experiences with the medicines as well as their connection with their therapists.

They found that a stronger relationship between patient and clinician led to a better clinical outcome for the patient – with improved depression scores up to 12 months following the experience.

Lead author Adam Levin, a psychiatry and behavioral health resident at Ohio State University College of Medicine, stated: “What persisted the most was the connection between the therapeutic alliance and long-term outcomes, which indicates the importance of a strong relationship.”

Analysis results revealed that over time, the alliance score increased, and in fact demonstrated more acute mystical experiences for the patient. The team also found that acute effects were linked to lower depression four weeks following treatment, but were not associated with better depression outcomes a year after the trial.

“The mystical experience, which is something that is most often reported as related to outcome, was not related to the depression scores at 12 months,” Davis stated.

“We’re not saying this means acute effects aren’t important – psychological insight was still predictive of improvement in the long term. But this does start to situate the importance and meaning of the therapeutic alliance alongside these more well-established effects that people talk about.”

According to the team, the analysis showed that a stronger relationship during the final therapy preparation session predicted a more mystical and psychologically insightful experience – which in turn was linked to further strengthening the therapeutic alliance.

“That’s why I think the relationship has been shown to be impactful in this analysis – because, really, the whole intervention is designed for us to establish the trust and rapport that’s needed for someone to go into an alternative consciousness safely,” Davis stated.

“This isn’t a case where we should try to fit psychedelics into the existing psychiatric paradigm – I think the paradigm should expand to include what we’re learning from psychedelics,” Levin added.

“Our concern is that any effort to minimise therapeutic support could lead to safety concerns or adverse events. And what we showed in this study is evidence for the importance of the alliance in not just preventing those types of events, but also in optimizing therapeutic outcomes.”

The authors emphasised that efforts to minimise negative experiences in future studies of psychedelics is vital, and that therapy is critical to creating a supportive environment for patients.

In a watershed moment for psychedelics in Europe, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) held a workshop from 16 to 17 April to discuss regulatory guidelines for the development and therapeutic use of psychedelic medicines.

2024 is set to be an important year for psychedelics and the EMA multi-stakeholder workshop is just one of the key events kicking it into action.

The two-day workshop – Towards an EU Regulatory Framework – brought together patients, healthcare professionals, academia, regulators and industry.

As Europe risks lagging behind countries such as Australia and America in seizing the potential of psychedelics for mental health innovation, the meeting was held in response to a letter from a group of cross-party MEPs calling for the EU to act fast on these therapies.

The MEPs wrote to the EMA and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) to say the organizations need to play a more active role in the advancement of psychedelic medicines in Europe.

Highlighting that the recent shift in perspective towards psychedelics has garnered interest in Europe, the EMA has stated that concerns remain over challenges developers may face in meeting the scientific and regulatory expectations for receiving marketing authorisation for the medicines – holding the workshop as a starting point in working through these issues.

While the meeting marks one small, initial step for the EMA, the organisation’s interest in this developing field of research marks a giant leap for the advancement of the therapies in Europe.

Towards an EU regulatory framework for psychedelics

The meeting heard regulatory perspectives on psychedelic drugs in psychiatry from across Europe, Australia and America, as well as insights on the legal status of psychedelics and their impact on research.

Non-profit organisation PAREA highlighted how Europe is currently facing a mental health crisis with a desperate need for innovation in care, with not a single new medicine out of the 89 approved in 2022 targeting mental health.

The organisation emphasised the obstacles posed by regulation for scientific research and proposed a number of recommendations for a more supportive regulatory framework to help move psychedelic therapies forward, including:

• Incentives such as regulatory protection: rescheduling psychedelic drugs to enable scientific research.
• Enhanced EMA support: Utilising Europe’s PRIME scheme which focuses on medicines under development that are not yet authorised in the EU.
• The establishment of an EU Commission on Novel Mental Health Therapies.
• Accelerated assessments: Utilising Conditional Marketing Authorisation (CMA) and the EMA’s Adaptive Pathways programme for early patient access.
• A more predictable reimbursement environment.

Speaking to Psychedelic Health, Tadeusz Hawrot, Founder and Director of PAREA, stated: “An importance of collaboration among different stakeholders felt central to the discussions, highlighting a need for joint effort to address the intricate issues surrounding psychedelic therapies.”

Building on the momentum created at the workshop, Hawrot said that PAREA will be exploring opportunities for a multistakeholder collaborative project as part of the Horizon Europe funding.

“The project would involve professional societies, patient groups, EMA and national competent authorities, addressing a number of most pressing topics related to psychedelic therapies at an intersection of regulation, science, and areas needed for implementing these therapies such as standards of care,” Hawrot explained.

“An upcoming EU Partnership on Brain Health will be an important opportunity to explore in this regard.”

Research and clinical trials

Further discussions focussed on methodological issues related to research and trials.

These surrounded issues with blinding and expectations, the importance of proper dosage justification and documenting dose-response relationships, as well as the need to investigate sub-psychedelic doses and their associations with psychoactive effects and neuroplasticity.

Hawrot commented: “In terms of some key areas addressed yesterday and today, discussion revolved around designing effective trials, the importance and type of therapeutic support, difficulties with using placebos, managing expectations, and how strict drug control policies are slowing down research.

“Exploring what can be standardised in trials, the crucial role of patient input and preferences, and the need for thorough aftercare provisions were further key points.”

The importance of Real World Evidence was also highlighted as a key path for advancing psychedelic therapies in Europe

Some implied next steps discussed were continuing dialogue between developers and regulators, seeking early feedback, and collaborating to address challenges in psychedelic drug development.

Patient representation and care

Ensuring the safe and effective use of psychedelic substances in clinical trials and real-world settings was also a main point of discussion, with patient representatives providing insight on their experience, as well as suggestions for patient care.

In particular, stakeholders including representatives of the Psychedelic Participant Advocacy Network (PsyPAN) highlighted the need for aftercare such as post-integrative therapy and peer support or professional guidance, however, it was also emphasised that these types of support are difficult to regulate.

The importance of patient involvement in research was also discussed, highlighting that patient involvement goes beyond study participation and includes a more active role in research design and decision-making.

Advancing innovation

Providing an environment where innovation can flourish will be vital for advancing psychedelics, and with companies already carrying out trails but hindered by strict regulations and expensive costs changes are needed sooner rather than later.

George McBride, Co-Founder of UK CMO Clerkenwell Health explained that the company is considering a significant investment into the EU to build out centres for the conduct of psychedelic research, querying the competitiveness of the EMA versus other jurisdictions such as the U.S FDA, Australia’s TGA, Health Canada and the UK’s MHRA.

EMA representatives provided assurance that the organisation is ready to be part of a collaborative and supportive effort to establish standards of care and standards for data gathering.

Speaking to Psychedelic Health, Stephen Murphy, CEO of PSYCH, commented: “This workshop is a key moment for the advancement of psychedelic medicines in Europe.

“The interest of the European Medicines Agency and the discussions in this week’s meeting highlights the organisation’s desire for innovation in mental healthcare and willingness to support psychedelic medicines through collaborative efforts.

“Taking action on psychedelic therapies now is a positive move towards preventative care in the area of mental health.

“We are pleased to see these developments at the start of 2024, which is set to be an important year for psychedelics across the globe.”

Harwot concluded: “The workshop made it clear that continuing conversations with regulators and developers and taking a measured approach to regulations are vital.

“It is very encouraging to see the degree of interest from EMA to explore the therapeutic potential of psychedelics and support developers in this field.”