Dr. Bronner’s, a family-owned maker of the top-selling natural brand of soap in North America, has announced that it will donate $1 million per year over the next five years to the non-profit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). This happened shortly after MAPS was given the green light by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin Phase 3 drug trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for people with treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
MAPS has concluded an international series of Phase 2 studies on MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, which laid the groundwork for two larger multi-site Phase 3 trials. These subsequent trials are required to show the FDA that MDMA is a safe and effective supplement to psychotherapy for patients with PTSD. Dr. Bronner’s gift will be reserved for Phase 3 studies, bringing MAPS significantly closer to raising the estimated $25 million needed to develop MDMA into an FDA-approved prescription treatment.
Founded in 1986, MAPS is a non-profit research and educational organization that develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the conscious uses of psychedelics and marijuana. Dr. Bronner’s is known for donating its profits to social and environmental causes. In fact, they print the company’s mission to put into practice the social and ecological principles on the company’s iconic soap labels.
H/T: PR Newswire