FAQ: How will Technosphere technology be used by the licensee?
"Technosphere technology is to be used as a vehicle to deliver regulated doses of a proprietary compound to treat a variety of medical conditions, including
chronic pain, spasticity and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis."
Fentanyl Maker Insys is Running CBD Clinical Trials
NICK JIKOMES
www.leafly.com/news/politics/fentanyl-maker-insys-running-cbd-clinical-trialsInsys Therapeutics, manufacturer of the synthetic opioid medication fentanyl, made headlines recently when it donated half a million dollars to the anti-cannabis legalization effort in Arizona. Fentanyl is a potent and highly addictive pain killer helping fuel the country’s opioid epidemic and skyrocketing overdose rates.
Presumably, Insys is funding anti-legalization efforts because legal cannabis represents a threat to its bottom line: medical cannabis can be an alternative to opioids for pain management, and states with medical marijuana laws are seeing lower rates of opioid abuse. In addition, there is evidence that plant cannabinoids such as cannabidiol (CBD) may be useful for treating opioid dependence. So it seems clear why a pharmaceutical company specializing in the sale of a synthetic opioid would oppose cannabis legalization.
But there’s more to it than that.
Insys is currently running a number of clinical trials investigating the use of cannabis-based therapies for a variety of ailments. If you go to ClinicalTrials.gov, a website run by the NIH, you can search through ongoing clinical trials in the U.S. based on disease, location, and who’s funding it. If you search “Insys,” a couple of things pop out: they’re running lots of trials to study fentanyl, and lots of trials to study cannabidiol (CBD).
CBD is non-psychoactive cannabinoid found in Cannabis, which we know is non-addictive and has wide-ranging therapeutic potential. Insys seems to know this as well, since they’re running CBD trials to treat everything from
treatment-resistant child epilepsy to over-eating symptoms associated with Prader-Willi Syndrome (a rare genetic disorder). Search for, “Insys cannabidiol” on ClinicalTrials.gov and take a look for yourself.
Insys is currently recruiting patients for a trial titled, “Characterization of the Analgesic Effect of CBD in Healthy, Normal Volunteers”. We already know that
medical cannabis can be effective for treating pain, and CBD may be one of the key compounds underlying this effect. Animal studies have also told us that
CBD specifically may have analgesic properties, and that it may be useful for treating addiction.
So it’s no surprise that a corporation like Insys is funding the anti-legalization effort in Arizona. Legal adult-use cannabis represents a competitive threat to sales of their flagship narcotic (fentanyl) and the Cannabis-based therapies they’re trying to develop. Voters should take note of who is opposing legalization efforts in their state, and why.
The case of Insys gives us yet another reason to support legalization this November.
clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=Insys+cannabidiol&Search=Search1 Completed Cannabidiol Oral Solution in Pediatric Subjects With Treatment- Resistant Seizure Disorders
Condition: Seizures
Intervention: Drug: Cannabidiol Oral Solution
2 Not yet recruiting Cannabidiol Oral Solution as an Adjunctive Therapy for Treatment of Subjects With Inadequately Controlled Dravet Syndrome
Condition: Dravet Syndrome
Interventions: Drug: Cannabidiol Oral Solution; Drug: Placebo Solution
3 Not yet recruiting Cannabidiol Oral Solution as an Adjunctive Therapy for Treatment of Subjects With Inadequately Controlled Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome
Condition: Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome
Interventions: Drug: Cannabidiol Oral Solution; Drug: Placebo Solution
4 Enrolling by invitation Cannabidiol Oral Solution as an Adjunctive Treatment for Treatment-resistant Seizure Disorder
Condition: Seizures
Intervention: Drug: Cannabidiol Oral Solution
5 Not yet recruiting Cannabidiol Oral Solution for The Treatment of Subjects With Prader-Willi Syndrome
Condition: Prader-Willi Syndrome
Interventions: Drug: Cannabidiol; Drug: Placebo
6 Active, not recruiting Cannabidiol Oral Solution for Treatment of Refractory Infantile Spasms
Condition: Spasms, Infantile
Intervention: Drug: Cannabidiol Oral Solution
7 Recruiting Cannabidiol and Emotional Stimuli
Condition: Drug Addiction
Interventions: Drug: Cannabidiol; Drug: Placebo
8 Recruiting Characterization of the Analgesic Effect of CBD in Healthy, Normal Volunteers
Condition: Pain
Interventions: Drug: Cannabidiol; Drug: Placebo
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