Latin America-based cannabis company Khiron Life Sciences, Corp. (TSX-V: KHRN) is partnering with stakeholders in the United Kingdom’s health system to bring the country’s doctors up to speed on weed.
On Tuesday the company said it signed an agreement with the U.K.’s Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society to teach participating doctors through Khiron’s cloud-based learning platform. The platform is currently used by universities and institutions in Latin America.
The MCCS is an independent non-profit organization that helps create transparent, independent guidance around medical weed, as well as help patients access cannabis in a safe, legal and effective way, according to its website.
The U.K. legalized medical cannabis in 2018 but that doesn’t mean doctors automatically know how it can be prescribed to benefit patients, Khiron Europe president Tejinder Virk said in a statement.
“A lack of doctor education has been missing in growing the U.K. medical cannabis market and we are pleased to participate in helping the medical community overcome this barrier,” Virk said.
Classes will kick off in the third fiscal quarter of 2020. According to the statement, doctors will learn about:
- U.K.-specific regulatory considerations,
- clinical evidence and research,
- safety and drug interactions,
- clinical cases,
- and practical recommendations for how to use cannabis to treat things like chronic pain, anxiety, cancer and epilepsy.
Lennox Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome are two severe early-onset epileptic disorders that can be treated using Epidiolex, a cannabis-derived medication, as an adjunct therapy. Spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis can be treated with Sativex, another cannabis-derived medication. Both medications were approved for use by the U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence last November.
Read more: U.K. approves 2 cannabis-based medicines
Citing a report by Prohibition Partners, Khiron says there’s a large market in the U.K. for medical cannabis. In the U.K. over 1.4 million people are self-medicating using unregulated cannabis for chronic pain alone, Khiron said. Its regulated market is predicted to grow to 340,000 patients and be worth around $1.7 billion (£1 billion) by 2024, Khiron added.
But granting doctors the ability to prescribe these medications doesn’t retroactively change a doctor’s education about weed. That’s where Khiron steps in.
Getting doctors up to speed on medical weed is “critically important” to ensure doctors can prescribe safe and effective medical cannabis prescriptions, says MCCS chairperson Mike Barnes.
Partnering with Khiron is invaluable to society to help improve patients’ quality of life, Barnes added.
Read more: Clinical cannabis protocol being developed for Canadian doctors
Khiron is a medical and consumer packaged goods company operating in Latin America, Europe and North America. According to the firm, it is the leading cannabis company in Colombia and the first company in the country licensed for the cultivation, production, domestic distribution and international export of THC medical weed exports.
Its online doctor education program is designed to “drive prescription and brand loyalty to address priority medical conditions.”
On Thursday company stock rose 4 per cent to $0.50 per share.
Top image via Deposit Photos
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