US FDA plans ultra-fast review of 3 psychedelic drugs after Trump directive

The Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it will offer ultra-fast review to three psychedelic drugs being developed to treat mental health conditions, including depression, the latest indication of the Trump administration’s commitment to the experimental treatment approach.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order last weekend directing the FDA and other federal agencies to speed access and loosen restrictions on psychedelics, a class of hallucinogenic drugs which remain illegal under federal law.

The FDA said it awarded priority review vouchers to two companies studying psilocybin – the active ingredient in magic mushrooms – for hard-to-treat forms of depression. A third company received a voucher for methylene, a drug related to MDMA, for post-traumatic stress disorder. The FDA did not name the companies in a press release announcing the vouchers.

The vouchers do not guarantee approval, but instead mean that regulators will aim to shorten their review timeline from a period of months to weeks.

The recent moves on psychedelics reflect growing popular support for the mind-altering substances among Trump’s supporters, including combat veterans and followers of the Make America Healthy Again movement spearheaded by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jnr.