SPONSOR: West
This bill establishes the "Veterans Mental Health Innovation Act".
This bill requires the Department of Health and Senior Services to award grants to conduct certified clinical drug development trials overseen by the United States Food and Drug Administration on the use of ibogaine for the treatment of opioid use disorder, co-occurring substance use disorder, or any other neurological or mental health condition for which ibogaine demonstrates efficacy. The Department must award grants only to an entity that satisfies criteria specified in the bill. The Department must begin accepting grant applications before November 1, 2026.
The bill creates the "Ibogaine Study Fund", which consists of moneys appropriated to it by the General Assembly and any gifts, contributions, grants, or bequests received from Federal, private, or other sources. The State Treasurer will be custodian of the Fund and can approve disbursements. The Fund will be used solely to award grants to conduct the certified clinical drug development trials.
An applicant selected to conduct ibogaine drug development clinical trials must quarterly prepare and submit to the Department:
(1) A report on the progress of the drug development clinical trials conducted ; and
(2) A financial status report, including information to verify expenditures of State funds and required matching funds.
The Department must submit a report to the General Assembly on the progress of the drug development clinical trials conducted and the financial status of the trials before December 1st of each year.
This bill creates the "Ibogaine Intellectual Property Fund", which will consist of all revenue attributable to all intellectual property rights and other commercial rights that may arise from drug development clinical trials during the period for which the trials are funded and any following period of commercialization. The State Treasurer will be custodian of the Fund and can approve disbursements. The Fund will be used solely for programs that assist veterans or other at-risk populations in this state.
Intellectual property rights and other commercial rights arising from the drug development clinical trials conducted include any of the following as related to the trials:
(1) Intellectual property, technology, and inventions;
(2) Patents, trademarks, and licenses;
(3) Proprietary and confidential information;
(4) Trade secrets, data, and databases;
(5) Tools, methods, and processes;
(6) Treatment models or techniques;
(7) Administration protocols; and
(8) Works of authorship.
If ibogaine is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to treat a medical condition, no person will prescribe ibogaine for a patient except a licensed physician. The physician must supervise the administration of ibogaine at a hospital or other licensed health care facility to ensure patient safety.
This bill is similar to HB 2817 (2026).
Statutes affected: