Summer 2009 Vol. 19, No. 2 Research Edition
MAPS’ Swiss MDMA/PTSD study has enrolled the 12th and final subject. Nine patients have completed the study; the 10th and 11th are currently in the treatment process. We estimate that the final treatments will take place between three and six months from now, depending upon whether the last subject gets placebo or MDMA. If a subject gets a placebo session, they will later have the option to participate in Stage 2, where they will go through the entire treatment process again but will receive the full dose of MDMA. This is called an “open-label” study. In this way, these subjects serve as their own controls, as well as being part of a matched control group.
The Swiss project is our second study of MDMAassisted psychotherapy for the treatment of PTSD. While the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) scores in the Swiss research have not dropped as dramatically as they had in our US pilot study, a preliminary analysis suggests that we are likely to obtain statistically significant results. The completion of this study will be yet another major accomplishment for MAPS and for our supporters.
The Swiss study differed from our US pilot study in several ways. Instead of using an inactive placebo as we had in the US study, we used a low-dose active placebo of 25 mg of MDMA, followed by a 12.5 mg booster dose. The population in the Swiss study also differed from our US study in that the majority of subjects had PTSD resulting from accidents and natural causes, rather than from sexual or physical assault. The Swiss study is also smaller than our US study, which enrolled 21 subjects.
