Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced November 12 that HHS will put up to $4.9 million through ARPA-H to prepare ibogaine for U.S. clinical work aimed at PTSD and other serious mental illness, especially among veterans. The money covers regulatory groundwork and manufacturing setup, not the trials themselves.
Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company will handle the domestic production of a single-molecule ibogaine hydrochloride product. RFK said the company agreed to transparent cost-plus contracts and that HHS will open-source the data so competitors and researchers can see what works and what does not. That setup keeps the usual pharma pricing games out of the early stage.
PSYCHEDELIC THERAPY FOR VETERANS: Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced nearly $5M in federal funding to prepare for the first U.S. studies of ibogaine—a controversial psychedelic championed by veterans—as a treatment for PTSD. https://t.co/wnP7yNzpl6
— Special Report (@SpecialReport) November 12, 2026
Beond, the Texas-linked clinic that has treated thousands of patients with ibogaine in Mexico, will supply de-identified safety, dosing, and outcome data from its work. RFK told reporters the existing dataset should let the government move the clinical trial process faster than the normal FDA crawl and aim for a “record drug approval process.” Separate funding for addiction research is expected before year’s end. NIMH is also putting up $20 million for a broader network studying rapid-acting options that include ketamine and psilocybin.
Ibogaine comes from a West African shrub. It remains Schedule I in the United States. President Trump signed an executive order in April directing agencies to open pathways for it and other psychedelics for mental health uses. Veterans and some conservative voices, including Joe Rogan, have pushed the idea for years; RFK has called the early reports among the most promising he has seen for PTSD and depression. Cardiac risks are real and documented, which is why the current money stops short of patient dosing in the U.S. and why screening remains strict in the clinics already operating.
🚨 WOW! President Trump reveals Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has just been sent the ORIGINAL ibogaine application from 1994, which will fast-track approval for the psychedelic drugs that can cure veterans’ conditions like addiction
JOE ROGAN was heavily involved in this.
BIG WIN!
“Today I am announcing that Secretary Kennedy has received a Historic Gift from the University of Miami, who has given the Federal Government its original 1994 Ibogaine Investigational New Drug application.”
“This will give everyone direct access to the foundational FDA authorization to accelerate its development as a medical treatment in the U.S. This is HUGE!”
ROGAN:
“I wanna tell everybody how this happened. I send President Trump some information.”
“With one dose of Ibogaine, more than 80% of people are free of that addiction. With two doses, it’s more than 90%. I sent him that information.”
“The text message came back, sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it. It was literally that quick!”
“For 56 years, we’ve lived under those terrible conditions. We’re free of that now.”
“We’re free of that now, thanks to all these people that you see next to me, and thanks to President Trump!”
47 gets stuff done 🇺🇸
— War Correspondent (@warDaniel47) October 14, 2026
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins stood with RFK at the briefing and stressed the need for the best available science on PTSD. RFK framed the move as keeping a promise to people who already served: follow the evidence, face the risks, and keep the eventual product affordable. Data from Beond and the manufacturing work by Cost Plus are meant to feed future IND applications rather than short-circuit them.
Whatfinger News has tracked the same veteran-driven push on mental health and the limits of standard treatments for years. The pieces that matter here are the open data requirement, the cost-plus constraint, and the decision to use real-world records from clinics that have already run the compound under medical supervision. Those are concrete steps, not another decade of committee language.
— The Whatfinger New Team: Sgt J and Sgt R, with Grok on edits and graphics
More: The federal government is putting millions into developing ibogaine, an illegal psychedelic, as a potential treatment for PTSD and other mental illnesses. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Nov. 12 that the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health is investing up to $4.9 million to lay the groundwork for future clinical trials. The money will support regulatory and manufacturing work rather than the trials themselves. While Ibogaine is currently illegal in the United States, President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April directing agencies to expand access to it and other drugs for people with mental illnesses. It has been tested in countries such as Mexico, where it is not prohibited. The initial funding spans five years and will continue only if milestones are met. – Epoch Health (Post)
