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Philippe Lucas, vice-president of global patient research and access for Tilray, called it a “groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind trial,” led by Dr. Diana Martinez, a professor of psychiatry and Margaret Haney, a professor of neurobiology. The eight-week study is a randomized, placebo-controlled design in which half the participants will receive a product containing a combination of THC and CBD, two active ingredients in cannabis, while the other half will get a product with no active cannabinoids.

Lucas said the New York researchers approached Tilray to supply the products for the trial. But it is only one of the numerous clinical trials Tilray is or has been, involved in. Among others is a study on essential tremors at University of California San Diego; a study on pediatric epilepsy at the Toronto Hospital for Sick Kids; one on chemotherapy-induced nausea in Australia; and a few studies on post-traumatic stress disorder, one in the U.S. and another in B.C. which has not yet reported results.

Tilray has also supplied medicinal cannabis products for a McGill University study on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and another study at McGill on inflammation in HIV/AIDS patients.

Lucas said it is not fast or easy to get approvals for cannabis research in the U.S.

An import permit from the Drug Enforcement Administration is needed so the substances can enter the U.S. and clear customs, he said. The Food and Drug Administration has to grant approval for the clinical trial to take place by issuing an investigational new drug number. After that, Health Canada has to issue an export permit for the U.S. trials.

pfayerman@postmedia.com

Twitter: @MedicineMatters