An increasing number of clinical studies support the potential of psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) and ketamine-assisted therapy (KAT) for individuals with TRD. As interest in these treatments grows, there is a need for robust comparative frameworks that can assess their benefits and risks alongside established interventions.

ge The project will bring together a multidisciplinary expert panel comprising psychiatrists, clinicians, pharmacists, policy experts, individuals with lived experience, and specialists in depression treatments. The MCDA enables structured comparisons across diverse interventions, with treatments assessed against predefined benefit and safety criteria.

Drug Science has extensive experience applying MCDA to complex questions at the intersection of science and policy. In 2010, the organisation conducted the first MCDA modelling of drug-related harms, published in The Lancet. This landmark study has been cited over 2,200 times and replicated across multiple countries. More recently, MCDA has been used to evaluate pharmacological treatments for chronic neuropathic pain and is increasingly adopted by regulatory authorities, including the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in medicine assessment and approval processes.

Findings from the project will be published  and aim to support evidence-based decision-making on the role of psychedelic-assisted therapies in the treatment of depression.