A hot topic in medical research at the moment, medicinal cannabis studies are being carried out for seemingly any and all ailments. One such trial being run by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) is extending efficacy studies of cannabidiol medicine to children with intellectual disability that exhibit severe behavioural problems.
To facilitate these studies, cannabis pharmaceuticals company Epsilon Healthcare (ASX: EPN) is supplying the study drug at no cost. Epsilon owns the largest cannabis manufacturing facility in the Southern Hemisphere as well as the Tetra Health clinic group and the Medimar Platform which provides an end-to-end eCommerce solution for nutraceuticals and cannabis.
For these trials, Epsilon has developed a berry flavoured cannabidiol (CBD) based product and matching placebo for the Murdoch trial. The Victorian Department of Health is providing the CBD isolate which will be used in formulation of the study drug.
In return for provision of the study drug, Epsilon will receive a royalty free license to the study data generated from the trial.
CEO of Epsilon, Jarrod White said: “We see our participation in clinical trials and studies as being critical to developing the medicinal cannabis industry in Australia. We are pleased to support the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute trial and appreciate the contribution from the Victorian Government which significantly reduced the cost of the Company’s involvement in the project. We look forward to supporting the industry further through clinical trials and study sponsorship and supply.”
Lead Investigator, Associate Professor Daryl Efron said: “We’re pleased to have Epsilon Healthcare support this clinical study by formulating and supplying the study drug and placebo. We look forward to working with them over the coming years on this study, as well as exploring opportunities in future studies.”
The multi-centre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial is anticipated to occur over two years with each participant being involved for 10 weeks.
Specialising in the medicinal cannabis space, Epsilon Healthcare owns Tetra Health, a network of clinics that facilitate responsible and medically supervised access to medicinal cannabis. Through the network, patients can access the specialist Authorised Prescribers who can assess patient eligibility for medicinal cannabis.
The Tetra Health’s network comprises over 600 referring physicians, 30 Authorised Prescribers and dispensing pharmacies across Australia. As of last year Tetra has over 1,100 active Australian patients and a further 10,000 prospective patients.
Samantha Freidin is a business journalist at Emerald Financial whilst also completing a Masters of Marketing and Digital Communications at Monash University.
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