Australian’s struggling with insomnia could soon find themselves with a prescription for medical cannabis, as a Perth study finds a new cannabidiol (CBD) could successfully treat insomnia.
As a result of the study, a new cannabis oil product will be released into the Australian market later this year. The product, called ‘ZLT-101’, was created by Zelira Therapeutics, one of the many ASX pot stocks based in Western Australia.
The study was conducted at the University of Western Australia’s Centre for Sleep Science and tested ZLT-101 on humans. Based at their Perth campus, the study was conducted over a period of 35 days and measured the sleep habits of 23 patients who were diagnosed with chronic insomnia.
For the first 14 nights, patients were treated with ZLT-101. Then, after a “washout” period of 7 days, the patients were then given a placebo drug for another 14 days.
Discussing the study, Professor Eastwood, the Director of the Centre for Sleep Science was quite proud of his work.
This study represents the most rigorous clinical trial ever undertaken to assess the therapeutic potential of medicinal cannabis to treat the symptoms of chronic insomnia.
As a result of the study, it was found that during the ZLT-101 phase, participants had a deeper sleep for a longer period.
The fact that ZLT-101 treatment achieved statistically significant, dose-responsive improvements across a broad range of key insomnia indices is impressive, particularly given the relatively short two-week dosing window.
ZLT-101 also represents a major win for the Australian medical cannabis industry, as the product will be manufactured in Australia. Specifically, Zelira Therapeutics is partnering with Tasmania Alkaloids, who are based in Westbury, Tasmania.
Announcing the partnership, Zelira Therapeutics Managing Director Dr Richard Hopkins was quoted as saying:
We’re delighted to be partnering with TasAlt, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of pharmaceutical-grade plant-derived medicines. The agreement reaffirms our commitment to bring our clinically validated products to market in 2020.
ZLT-101 isn’t the only cannabis oil product to be released recently. At the start of May, CBD wafers made in Queensland were made available for prescription, and, just over a week ago, it was confirmed that THC Global is releasing a new CBD medicine.
With these new products on the market, there are over 100 medical marijuana drugs available for Australian doctors to prescribe. For patients to obtain a prescription to any of these medicines, including ZLT-101, they will need a doctor’s prescription, which is currently the only legal way to use CBD oil in Australia, and to apply for the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)’s Special Access Scheme.
