Canntab Therapeutics will participate in a five-year study of cannabis-based therapies to treat fibromyalgia and other disorders that are unresponsive to treatment.
The Canadian company also is launching a suite of oral cannabinoid therapies — derived from cannabis and acting on cannabinoid receptors — in Australia in partnership with Cann Global by the end of this year.
“This deal is two years in the making and represents important milestones for our company,” Larry Latowsky, CEO of Canntab, said in a press release. “It is the first observational clinical study that we are confident will support our vision of our product as unique, effective and the preferred cannabinoid delivery system for many medical symptoms and conditions.”
Previous studies suggest that medical cannabis may alleviate pain and improve quality of life in fibromyalgia patients. Canntab has developed pill formulations (given once daily or with extended release) from two of the active chemical components of cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol, as both standalone and combination therapeutics.
In partnership with the medical community and with companies such as as Althea Group Holdings, Cronos Australia, Cymra Life Sciences and Medcan Australia, Applied Cannabis Research (ACR) launched the Cannabinoid Medicine Observational Study (CMOS).
Through its partnership with Cann Global, Canntab products will be included in the study that will evaluate the effectiveness and safety of medicinal cannabis to treat fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions, as well as mental health, neurological, and inflammatory disorders.
“We believe that this study will provide us with important clinical validation which should significantly increase both consumer confidence in pharmaceutical grade medical cannabis products, and the confidence of the medical industry to widely and responsibly adopt the prescribing of products to potentially naturally alleviate many ailments,” Sholom Feldman, CEO of Cann Global, said in another press release.
CMOS, the largest medical cannabis study to date in Australia, will recruit approximately 20,000 patients and run through 2025. The researchers will use questionnaires to collect data on side effects, treatment changes, patient satisfaction, and quality of life during treatment.
The patients’ prescribing physicians also will provide information on dosage, treatment outcomes, and other data. Both patients and physicians are expected to complete regular follow-up questionnaires for up to one year. Overall, the scientists hope to create a comprehensive data set of medicinal cannabis prescription, usage, and outcomes in Australia.
To participate in the study, patients must be 18 or older, receiving or considering cannabis treatment for a relevant clinical condition, and have consent from their prescribing physician. The study is currently ongoing at two sites in Sydney and Nowra, both in New South Wales. More sites are expected to be added.
Learn more about the study and how to enroll here. Clinicians can find more information here.
“Through CMOS, we expect to be able to tell whether a particular cannabis product is effective in the treatment of a particular disease and give doctors guidance in their cannabis prescribing,” said John Barlow, PhD, ACR’s principal investigator for CMOS.
In addition to its participation in CMOS, Canntab is applying to Health Canada for export approval that will allow for the shipment and distribution of its products — including the recently patented cannabinoid tablets — in Australia, through Cann Global.