Medicinal cannabis and hemp healthcare company Bod Australia Limited (ASX: BOD) has been given authorisation in the UK to trial a cannabis-based medicine with long-COVID patients.
Most people unfortunate enough to get COVID-19 and have symptoms will experience those symptoms for a few days to a few weeks. However, some suffer for much longer. Where symptoms are continuing after four weeks, this can considered long-COVID, although the qualifying time frame varies depending on who is defining it.
The prevalence of long-COVID isn’t clear, but an estimated 1.3 million people living in private households in the UK were experiencing self-reported long COVID as of 6 December 2021. The symptoms can be anything from annoying to debilitating and may include shortness of breath, fatigue, “brain fog”, sleeping problems or chronic pain, among various others.
We reported earlier this week on research indicating cannabis could help prevent COVID infection in the first place, but there has also been increasing interest in how it may be able to help those who become infected.
Bod Australia’s MediCabilis 5% product is to be used in an open label clinical trial in association with Drug Science UK to determine the effects of MediCabilis on symptoms associated with the long- term impact of SARS-CoV-2. Bod entered into an agreement with Drug Science UK in relation to the proposed trial in March last year.
After receiving Clinical Trial Authorisation from the UK’s Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, Bod and Drug Science are now in the process of recruiting patients and seeking to enlist up to 30 long-COVID sufferers over the age of 18. Participants will be administered MediCabilis 5% on a daily basis over a six-month period, with patients undertaking monthly and daily self-reporting.
The clinical trial will be led by Principal investigator, Dr Elizabeth Iverson
“Given the ongoing and global prevalence of COVID-19 and its long term effects, it is important to take a scientifically focused approach towards the potential treatment mechanisms associated with the condition,” said Dr. Iverson.
MediCabilis is a CBD (cannabidiol) based formulation, which has also been accessible for clinical trial use and for patients in Australia for various conditions through the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) Approved Prescriber (AP) and Special Access Schemes (SAS).
