MediPharm Labs has entered into a research support agreement with the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California (USC) to conduct a randomized double-blind placebo controlled Phase 2 trial on the efficacy of THC and CBD to treat hospice-eligible patients diagnosed with dementia and experiencing agitation.
The lead investigators are Jacobo Mintzer, MD, MBA, Brigid Reynolds, ANP-BC, and the Alzheimer's Clinical Trial Consortium (ACTC).The ACTC is led by Paul Aisen, MD, Alzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute at the USC, Ron Petersen, MD, of Mayo Clinic, and Reisa Sperling, MD of the Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical School. Consistent with MediPharm's commitment to clinical research and the progression and adoption of drugs containing cannabis, the company will supply the sponsor and the principal investigators with the study drug and placebo, and such other information and assistance as may be required during the course of the study.
"We are proud to participate in this important research that further solidifies our pharmaceutical approach to medical cannabis. This trial benefits from passionate lead investigators, a world-renowned sponsor institution and funding from the US National Institute of Health. Dementia and related indications are hard to treat for patients and caregivers especially at the end-of-life stage. It is our hope that the study will potentially provide a better therapeutic option than the current standard of care. MediPharm has invested in the infrastructure, licensing and expertise to become the preferred partner for pharmaceutical companies looking to add drugs containing cannabis to their pipelines. The [partnership] announced this morning provides further evidence that the company has established processes that meet rigorous U.S. national and state specific regulations, and set the foundation for similar announcements in the future as we continue to build our pipeline," said MediPharm Labs CEO David Pidduck.
