Tilray, a Canadian cannabis company, has received permission from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to export a medical marijuana drug to the United States for a clinical trial, the company announced Tuesday. The medication will be studied at the University of California San Diego to determine its usefulness treating essential tremor, a neurological disorder affecting millions of Americans.
Dr. Fatta Nahab, a neurologist and associate professor of neurosciences at the UCSD medical school, said receiving approval to import the drug from the Food and Drug Administration and DEA took months.
THC and CBD
The drug Tilray will export is a capsule with a formulation containing both THC and CBD. The medication will be studied at the UCSD Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research for its effect on essential tremor, a neurological disorder that causes involuntary movements of the body.
“This is an oral capsule formulation that has actual plant in it,” Nahab said. “It’s a purified, medical-grade formulation, and to my knowledge, that’s never been imported from Canada before.”
Nahab said that the quality of the medicine, which is derived directly from cannabis plants, makes it a good candidate for clinical research.
“We’ve got a set dosing, fixed, highly consistent, and so it’s really going to help us advance the field much more,” said Nahab.
Dr. Catherine Jacobson, Tilray’s director of clinical research in California, said importing a cannabis drug is an important milestone in furthering study into the medicinal applications of the plant.
“It’s quite significant,” she said.
Nahab said in a press release that researchers hoped their work would garner data needed to set parameters for the use of medical cannabis.
“It’s exciting to advance our work in this area by conducting a first-of-its kind