April 24 (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it is taking steps to speed up the development of new treatments for serious mental illness, following an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last week.
Trump signed the executive order on April 18, directing the federal government to accelerate the development of psychedelic drugs as medical treatments.
“These medications have the potential to address the nation’s mental health crisis, including conditions like treatment-resistant depression, alcoholism and other serious mental health and substance abuse conditions,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said in a statement.
The health regulator said it would issue special priority vouchers to three companies developing psychedelic treatments.
Out of the three companies, two are studying psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression and major depressive disorder, and another is studying methylone for post-traumatic stress disorder.
(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
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