A cannabis company focused on developing a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder is starting human clinical trials.
Allied Corp. (OTCQB: ALID) said is started Phase 1 of the research trial in partnership with European-based bio-pharma company MGC Pharmaceuticals Ltd., in a Monday statement.
Phase 1 clinical trials are used to test the safety, side effects and best dose of a new drug, usually on healthy volunteers. Allied will then test if and how the cannabinoid solution can treat PTSD in humans.
Allied is an international cannabis company that creates cannabinoid treatments for mental health disorders. It produces and researches how cannabis can be used in pharmaceutical and natural treatments and says treating PTSD, or post traumatic stress injury, is one of its top priorities.
The British Columbia-based company also runs the Allied Charitable Foundation, which offers first responders and veterans suffering from PTSD a broad range of holistic therapies to promote suicide prevention, according to its website. The foundation offers retreats to Canadian veterans on Quadra Island, B.C., where vets can build out their support network and learn techniques in yoga, meditation and breathing to help reset their nervous system.
Allied is vertically integrated from seed to patient. With extensive expertise in cannabis cultivation and processing, combined with cutting edge research and development, Allied delivers targeted cannabinoid health solutions to veterans and first responders. pic.twitter.com/U42RcSJaDW
— Allied Corp (@AlliedCorpTeam) November 15, 2019
Cannabis is known anecdotally as a treatment for PTSD, and recent research has been published to support the anecdotal evidence.
In November 2019, the BC Centre on Substance Use and the University of British Columbia published a study suggesting PTSD sufferers who medicated with cannabis were far less likely to experience severe depression and suicidal thoughts.
Read more: Cannabis Could Alleviate Major Depression and Suicidal Thoughts in PTSD Sufferers, Study Shows
Discovering alternative therapies for PTSD is important because established treatments like talk therapy and antidepressants haven’t been as effective in treating the disorder, cannabis scientist M-J Milloy told Mugglehead in November.
For the Phase 1 clinical trial, Allied will provide the cannabinoid solution and MGC Pharmaceuticals will bring the drug-testing know how. MGC Pharmaceuticals will cover clinical research, Investigational Medicinal Product (IMP) registration, manufacturing of lab volumes for the research project, drug stability testing, and the GMP manufacturing and regulatory assistance needed to register for an IMP number, Allied said in the statement.
“This agreement with MGC Pharma is a significant milestone for Allied as we continue to make progress towards advancing our first cannabis derived pharmaceutical product into clinical trials for PTSD” Calum Hughes, CEO of Allied, said in Monday’s statement.
“We are excited to be working with MGC Pharma, a company with a proven track record in developing cannabis-based drugs and bringing them to market. We look forward to leveraging their technical capabilities to accelerate the development, manufacturing and sales of our first pharmaceutical product for PTSD.”
The company will be testing its ALID-10 and ALID-11 products in the clinical trials, and said it will submit patents for both products.
The company previously submitted patents for its products AC001 and AC002, but in Monday’s release said it was abandoning those patents.
Top image via Deposit Photos
michelle@mugglehead.com
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