Prof James Rucker, of King’s College London’s institute of psychiatry, psychology and neuroscience (IoPPN) and consultant psychiatrist at SLaM, said: “Here, we show that a randomised trial design of psilocybin compared to a true placebo was feasible in participants who had often failed many different types of treatment.
“People who were randomised to receive a dose of 25mg of psilocybin were much more likely to improve than those who were randomised to placebo up to six weeks of follow up.
“As is often the case in clinical depression, individual responses were very variable and some of the difference seen between groups will be due to non-drug factors.
“Publicly funded clinical trials are an important part of the jigsaw of evidence needed for a new intervention to find its place in the real world.
“Meanwhile, the wider evidence base for psilocybin therapy is growing rapidly, and looks increasingly promising.”
Recruitment for the trial started at a research facility before continuing at a community mental health building.
Catherine Bird, senior clinical trials manager at the IoPPN, said it showed that “psilocybin, unlike many psychiatric drugs, can be administered safely outside a hospital ward” and required a “calm, supported environment and trained staff rather than medical monitoring”.
Prof Rucker added: “This trial makes a strong case for larger publicly funded trials of psilocybin therapy in community settings, which are often more convenient and less anxiety-provoking for patients than hospital settings.”