Highlights
- Barrow Neurological Institute and ASU are launching one of the first clinical trials of ibogaine in the United States.
- Arizona awarded $5 million to Barrow to fund the clinical trial, focused on traumatic brain injury.
- Ibogaine is not FDA-approved; some patients currently travel to Mexico for access to the treatment.
- Multiple outlets including KTAR and KJZZ have independently confirmed the trial's launch.
Barrow Neurological Institute and Arizona State University are launching one of the first clinical trials of ibogaine in the United States, backed by a $5 million state grant, according to an ASU news release published Monday.
The trial targets patients living with traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and addiction, conditions for which existing treatments often fall short. Ibogaine, a psychedelic compound derived from the African iboga plant, is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. As the ASU release notes, some patients are currently traveling to clinics in Tijuana, Cozumel, and Cancún to access the therapy outside the US regulatory framework.
The Barrow-ASU collaboration has been corroborated by KTAR and KJZZ, both of which reported on the grant award and trial design in August. EurekAlert and News-Medical also covered the launch.
Barrow, headquartered in Phoenix, is one of the country's largest dedicated neuroscience institutions and has an existing research partnership with ASU through the Barrow-ASU Center for Preclinical Imaging.
Trial enrollment details and a timeline for initial results have not yet been disclosed in public materials.
Sources
Every factual claim in this article traces to one of the sources below. See how we work for the editorial process.
- news.asu.edu retrieved 31/08/2026 22:21
- barrowneuro.org retrieved 31/08/2026 22:21
- ktar.com retrieved 31/08/2026 22:21
- kjzz.org retrieved 31/08/2026 22:21
- barrowneuro.org retrieved 31/08/2026 22:21
- news-medical.net retrieved 31/08/2026 22:21
- eurekalert.org retrieved 31/08/2026 22:21
Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 31/08/2026 22:21. Every claim traces to a source.
