Cybin (CYBN.NE) announces shroom-assisted psychotherapy study for burnt out healthcare workers

Through the last year of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers have been on the front lines, bearing the brunt of the challenging circumstances. And, in an attempt to repay the great debt we owe them, we have called them heroes, in the UK we drew them rainbow, we gave them tickets to the Super Bowl. More cruelly, we forced them to watch the Leafs screw the pooch yet again in the playoffs in person, while we watched the train wreck from the relative comfort of our living rooms.

But after a year of chaos and stress, someone is finally giving them what they really need: psilocybin assisted psychotherapy.

That someone is Cybin (CYBN.NE), who announced they are sponsoring a study that will aim to treat symptoms of depression, anxiety, burnout and post-traumatic stress among frontline doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals using psilocybin psychotherapy.

But after a year of chaos and stress, someone is finally giving healthcare workers what they really need: psilocybin assisted psychotherapy.

For the trial, which will be randomized and placebo-controlled, Cybin is partnering with the University of Washington. The study will be led by Dr. Anthony Back, and will be hosted in Seattle, which was hard with an early coronavirus outbreak.

“There is tremendous potential in a collaboration between the University of Washington and Cybin to move the field forward, and this project is an incredibly valuable initial step towards a productive future,” said Dr. Anthony Back.

To support the initiative, Alex Belser and Bill Brennan developed EMBARK, which was designed as a transdiagnostic psychotherapy model that can be adapted to address a range of clinical indications and populations.

“Our nation’s doctors, nurses and clinicians have been shouldering the burden of COVID-19 by taking care of the sickest among us. They’re experiencing high levels of anxiety, depression and burnout. Now it’s our turn to help them,” stated Dr. Alex Belser, Cybin’s Chief Clinical Officer. “We are sponsoring research to see if psychedelic medicine, when used with EMBARK’s supportive therapy, can help clinicians recover from COVID-related distress.”

To support the initiative, Alex Belser and Bill Brennan developed EMBARK, which was designed as a transdiagnostic psychotherapy model that can be adapted to address a range of clinical indications and populations.

The study will simultaneously provide Cybin important data, as well as potentially improving their outreach into the broader healthcare community. Conducting the study with people who understand the healthcare system better than a typical patient may also be able to provide valuable feedback.

“For more than a year now, frontline clinicians and healthcare professionals have made immeasurable sacrifices to protect public health in their communities. We consider it an honor and our duty to now help support their own healing processes, post-COVID-19. We are also delighted and proud to launch EMBARK, a ground-breaking psychotherapy model aimed at delivering best-practice, supportive healing in conjunction with psychedelic therapeutics. We look forward to working with and supporting Dr. Anthony Back on this important program,” said Doug Drysdale, CEO of Cybin.