CannPal Animal Therapeutics Limited (ASX:CP1) has announced it has received ethics approval for a large pharmacokinetic and safety study in dogs involving THC and CBD.
CannPal is seeking to develop cannabis-based products to provide pain relief for companion animals. The company’s lead drug candidate is a formulation called CPAT-01, which CannPal hopes will be an alternative to Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory (NSAID) drugs that tend to have a number of undesirable side-effects in dogs.
The study will involve more than 48 dogs, which will be administered psychoactive THC, non-intoxicating CBD cannabis compounds and CPAT-01 over the course of three phases. The use of THC is interesting as it’s generally something that is not recommended for dogs as they are particularly sensitive to the compound.
“The study will provide our researchers with invaluable insight into the pharmacokinetics and safety profiles of cannabinoids in dogs, which is a crucial step in the drug development process,” said CannPal Founder and Managing Director Layton Mills.
The trial is expected to begin in the first quarter of next year, with results from phases 1 and 2 anticipated in Q2 2018.
The ethics approval was important news for the company, which listed on the Australian Stock Exchange this week. CannPal closed its IPO offer early and it was heavily oversubscribed, raising $6 million.
The study will be carried out in collaboration with Invetus, Australasia’s largest veterinary research organisation.
CannPal is also researching the benefits of CBD derived from hemp, and is working on developing a nutraceutical product that could be on the market as early as 2018.
Founded in June last year, CannPal’s advisory board consists of a number of experts including Mara Gordon, who was the founder of Aunt Zelda’s, Calla Spring Wellness, and Zelda Therapeutics; and Dr Ted Whittem, the current Head of Melbourne Veterinary School.
There’s an increasing amount of research relating to the use of medical cannabis, particularly cannabidiol, in dogs. We recently reported on two trials being run at Colorado State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital evaluating the use of CBD for the treatment of canine osteoarthritis and epilepsy.
