Field Trip Health Ltd. (NASDAQ: FTRP, TSX: FTRP), a global leader in the development and delivery of psychedelic therapies, today announced that it will begin making applications for Canadians in need to access psilocybin-assisted and MDMA-assisted therapy through Health Canada’s Special Access Program (SAP).
The announcement follows amendments to the SAP announced in the Canada Gazette on January 5, 2022, which have enabled physicians in Canada to make applications to Health Canada for access to “restricted drugs”, including psilocybin and MDMA.
The SAP provides physicians treating patients with “serious or life-threatening conditions” with the ability to request access to drugs that have not yet been approved for sale in Canada when conventional therapies have failed, are unsuitable, or unavailable. Prior to the amendments, restricted drugs such as psilocybin and MDMA were not accessible through SAP.
Field Trip, which presently operates three Field Trip Health Centers in Canada (Toronto, Vancouver and Fredericton), eight in the United States and one in The Netherlands, was actively involved in providing feedback and commentary to Health Canada on the proposed revisions to the SAP during the 60-Day Public Comment Period, and was involved in having Health Canada recognize that treatment resistant depression, as well as mental health and central nervous conditions such as cluster headaches and migraines, will be considered “serious or life-threatening conditions” for purposes of the SAP.
“Since the opening of our first Field Trip Health Center in Toronto in 2020, we’ve helped people around the world experience relief from suffering and find joy, wonder and fulfilment through our psychedelic therapies,” “With three locations in Canada, our team of highly experienced psychedelic therapists and physicians, many who have completed the MAPS training for MDMA-assisted therapies, along with the protocols and programs providing psilocybin-assisted therapies at our location in The Netherlands, we feel there is no organization in the world more qualified than Field Trip to help Canadians access the SAP for these life-changing therapeutics.”
Hannan Fleiman, President of Field Trip
Canadians interested in applying to the SAP for treatment of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder as well as disorders affecting the central nervous systems through Field Trip are encouraged to contact the company by email at SAP@fieldtriphealth.com to begin the application process.
While Field Trip intends to make applications on behalf of certain Canadians to access psilocybin and MDMA-assisted therapies through the SAP, no assurances can be made that Health Canada will approve any such applications or that such treatments will be provided.
“It has always been a central thesis to our business model that legal access to psychedelic-assisted therapies using psilocybin and MDMA would happen much sooner than most people would have expected,” added Ronan Levy, Field Trip’s Executive Chairman. “While these amendments to the SAP do not yet achieve our hope of generalized medical access to these therapies, it is an encouraging development and we commend Health Canada for being a clear leader in this regard. The amendments to the SAP will provide hope to Canadians who have suffered with these debilitating conditions for too long.”
About Field Trip Health Ltd.
Field Trip is a global leader in the development and delivery of psychedelic therapies. With our Field Trip Discovery division leading the development of the next generation of psychedelic molecules and conducting advanced research on plant-based psychedelics and our Field Trip Health division building centers for psychedelic therapies opening across North America and Europe along with the digital and technological tools that will enable massive scale, we help people in need with a simple, evidence-based way to heal and heighten engagement with the world.