Canada's Tilray teams with NSW and USYD to drive booming medical marijuana industry
In an effort to provide groundbreaking research for a treatment of nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy, Canadian medical cannabis research and production company Tilray has teamed up with the NSW Government and the University of Sydney.
The partnership will create the largest clinical trial of marijuana’s affect on chemotherapy patients in the world. Tilray’s ultimate plan is to import cannabis products from its state-of-the-art Vancouver Island facility that has helped bring the global $250 billion industry to Australia.
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“We are very excited and optimistic about this partnership with Tilray,” said University of Sydney associate professor Peter Grimison. “We believe Tilray is well positioned to develop appropriate medical products from cannabis.
“We envision additional future trials with products that they develop for other indications as well.”
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It’s believed by many that the growing medicinal marijuana industry will create thousands of skilled jobs while generating millions of dollars in foreign investment.
The trial is scheduled to begin as early as this summer once regulatory approval and import permits are granted, and will be held at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse in Sydney as well as other sites in NSW. It will be conducted by an interdisciplinary group of researchers who specialise in cannabinoids and oncology.
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The purpose of the trial is to examine the safety and tolerability of a novel cannabis-derived study drug in patients undergoing chemotherapy.
“Tilray is at the forefront of clinical research in the medical cannabis field,” said Tilray director of clinical research Dr. Catherine Jacobson. “We are providing physicians and researchers with cannabis-derived study drugs that meet regulatory standards for human trials and which are based on studies indicating a high likelihood of success in treating specific diseases and disease-related symptoms.”
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