Health
FDA Approves CBD Clinical Trials To Treat Opioid Addiction
The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) recently gave a go-ahead to a biotech pharma company that is advancing human clinical trials –Ananda Scientific to test cannabidiol (CBD) use in treating opioid addiction.
The FDA has approved clinical trials for Nantheia™ ATL5 which is an investigational new drug (IND) that contains cannabis-based compound CBD that will be used as an adjunctive treatment using proprietary delivery technology. This will be the fourth IND approval for the CBD-based drug Nantheia™ product line which is being investigated for several indications. The study will be conducted in UCLA’s Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.
The company CEO Sohail R. Zaidi has said that “This clinical study at UCLA is an important component of our clinical development efforts focused on opioid addiction, where a non-addictive therapy is a significant unmet need.” He further expressed his excitement with the partnership between Ananda and UCLA for this project.
Edythe London, Ph.D., and Richard De La Garza II, Ph.D. who work at the UCLA School of Medicine are the principal investigators spearheading the research. Funding for this clinical trial is coming from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
CBD is one of the numerous phytocannabinoids that are present in cannabis Sativa L. Unlike the other popular phytocannabinoid THC, CBD is non-psychoactive and will not alter one’s mental status. In 2018, the FDA approved the first-ever CBD-based drug Epidiolex for the treatment of severe childhood seizures: Lennox Gastaut and Dravets syndromes.
Ananda Scientific is a biotech and pharma company that is leading the way in investigating potential applications for cannabinoid-based treatments. It employs patented delivery technologies to ensure greater bioavailability and efficacy of such treatments. The company is running several clinical trials in partnership with leading universities. This privately held company is based out of Colorado and Los Angeles.
