What psilocybin therapy would have to cost to be worth it
What they did
Health economists modelled whether psilocybin-assisted therapy for treatment-resistant depression would be cost-effective against standard care, over a twelve month horizon, at a range of treatment prices.
What they found
At a treatment cost of $5,000 the therapy added 0.031 quality-adjusted life years for $3,639, working out to $117,517 per quality-adjusted life year. At $10,000 per treatment the probability of being cost-effective fell to 1 percent.
Worth knowing
That $117,517 figure clears a $150,000 willingness-to-pay threshold but fails the more commonly used $100,000 one, so the headline depends entirely on which threshold you accept. This is a simulation over twelve months, not observed cost data.
Avanceña et al. Psilocybin-assisted therapy for treatment-resistant depression in the US, a model-based cost-effectiveness analysis. Translational Psychiatry, 2025.
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depressionOnly the highest dose eased treatment-resistant depressiondepressionIn ordinary depression, psilocybin beat placebo by twelve pointsdepressionPsilocybin and a standard antidepressant, with no clear winnerEvery trial in this section used a single large dose, given in a clinic, with trained people in the room for the whole session. That is a different activity from anything sold on this site. More on why that distinction matters.
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