The U.S. government is moving forward with the first federally funded clinical trials of ibogaine, a psychedelic compound, to treat opioid addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder. The effort follows an executive order signed in April that dedicated $50 million to ibogaine research. The FDA has opened a public docket seeking comments on trial design, dose selection, patient eligibility, safety monitoring, and study-stopping rules, with feedback due by Nov. 20.
Separately, AstraZeneca opened a new R&D center in Cambridge, Mass., in the Kendall Square biotech cluster. The 18-story, 570,000-square-foot facility is the centerpiece of a $1 billion investment program in the state. The U.K.-based company first announced the broader investment program in 2024 and expanded it to roughly $50 billion last year.
The two items are unrelated, but together they illustrate distinct trends: growing federal interest in psychedelic therapies and continued concentration of pharmaceutical research in the Boston area.