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Active, not recruitingPhase 1

A Study of Psilocybin for PTSD

NCT06407635 · Johns Hopkins University

Closed to entry
Status
Not accepting participants
Phase 1
Phase
20
Target enrolment
1
Study sites
1 US states

What it is testing

Summary

The proposed open-label, controlled study at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research (CPCR) will test the following primary hypotheses in adult patients with chronic PTSD who are currently taking a serotonin reuptake inhibitor: psilocybin therapy will be feasible and safe for participants, significantly remediate PTSD symptoms, and enhance wellbeing and quality of life. In addition, the study will examine whether elements of evidence-based trauma-focused psychotherapy enhance treatment response when paired with psilocybin.

Summary as written by the trial’s own sponsor and published on ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. It is the sponsor’s description, reproduced unedited, not an assessment by this site.

What counts as success

Primary outcome measures

  • Incidence of Adverse Events

    Measured over 8 months

  • Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS)

    Measured over 8 months

  • Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-5 (CAPS-5)

    Measured over 8 months

  • Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) of PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5)

    Measured over 3 months

  • World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF)

    Measured over 8 months

A trial succeeds or fails on its primary outcome, declared in advance. Everything else it reports is secondary by definition.

Who can take part

Eligibility, as published

21 Years to 75 Years
Ages
All
Sex
Not accepted
Healthy volunteers
Inclusion criteria: * Be at least 21 years old * Have given written informed consent * Have a confirmed DSM-5 diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder with symptom duration \>= 6 months * Have a baseline CAPS-5 score of \>=35 * Currently taking a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI or SNRI) at a stable dose for at least 3 months. * Be judged by study team clinicians to be at low acute risk for suicidality * Be medically stable as determined by screening for medical problems via a personal interview, a medical questionnaire, a physical examination, an electrocardiogram (ECG), and routine medical blood and urinalysis laboratory tests * Agree to consume approximately the same amount of caffeine-containing beverage (e.g., coffee, tea) that he/she consumes on a usual morning, before arriving at the research unit on the mornings of drug session days. If the participant does not routinely consume caffeinated beverages, he/she must agree not to do so on session days. * Agree to refrain from using alcohol, anxiolytics, stimulants, sedatives or hypnotics, opioids, dissociatives, cannabinoids, or other unapproved substances within 24 hours of psilocybin administration. Caffeine and nicotine are exceptions. * Agree not to take any as needed (PRN) medications on the mornings of drug sessions * Agree to stop taking 5HT2A antagonist medications at least 5 half-lives before psilocybin dosing. * Agree not to take sildenafil (Viagra®), tadalafil, or similar medications within 72 hours of each drug administration. * Have no classic psychedelic use in the past five years. * Have at least a high school level of education or equivalent (e.g. GED). * Weigh at least 40kg. * (for female participants) Agree to use highly effective birth control measure within two weeks before and after dosing sessions. * (for male participants) Agree to use contraception and refrain from sperm donation two weeks before and after dosing sessions, as the reproductive safety for psilocybin is not yet established. Exclusion Criteria: General medical exclusion criteria: * Women who are pregnant (as indicated by a positive urine pregnancy test assessed at intake and before each drug session) or nursing; women who are of child- bearing potential and sexually active who are not practicing an effective means of birth control. * Cardiovascular conditions: coronary artery disease, stroke, angina, hypertension with resting blood pressure systolic \>139 or diastolic \>89, a clinically significant ECG abnormality (e.g., atrial fibrillation), prolonged corrected QT interval (QTc) interval (i.e., QTc \> 450 msec), artificial heart valve, or transient ischemic attack (TIA) in the past year * Family history of Torsades de Pointes and sudden cardiac death * Epilepsy with history of seizures * Insulin-dependent diabetes; if taking oral hypoglycemic agent, then no history of hypoglycemia * Currently taking a Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor Psychiatric Exclusion Criteria: * Current or past history of meeting DSM-5 criteria for schizophrenia spectrum or other psychotic disorders (except substance/medication-induced or due to another medical condition), or Bipolar I or II Disorder * Current or history within one year of meeting DSM-5 criteria for a severe alcohol, tobacco, or other drug use disorder (excluding caffeine) * Current or history within one year of meeting DSM-5 criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder. * Have a first degree relative with schizophrenia spectrum or other psychotic disorders (except substance/medication-induced or due to another medical condition), or Bipolar I. * Has a psychiatric condition judged to be incompatible with establishment of rapport or safe exposure to psilocybin * History of a medically significant suicide attempt * Unwilling or unable to pause concurrent psychotherapy during the study. * Determined to be at risk for re-exposure to the index trauma or other significant trauma in daily life.

Where

1 study site

FacilityCityRegionCountry
Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness ResearchBaltimoreMarylandUnited States

On the registry

Contact the trial directly

This site does not enrol anyone and is not involved in this trial. To ask about taking part, use the sponsor’s own contact details on the official registry record, which is also where the most current version of everything above lives.

Before you do, the preparation checklist lists what a site will ask you on a first call and what is worth asking them. It is free and collects nothing.

NCT06407635 on ClinicalTrials.gov →

Last updated in the registry 2026-06-22. Registry records change; this page reflects the data build of 2026-08-25.

Related

Where this trial sits