On December 1st, Neurotech International (ASX: NTI) announced that its recent study found that a cannabis strain can reduce the negative side effects people often experience on Prednisone.
Prednisone is a medication that belongs in the “Corticosteroids” class. It’s used to treat immune-inflammatory conditions like multiple sclerosis (MS) and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as autoimmune and neurological disorders. Prednisone carries many nasty side effects, including high blood sugar, increased risk of infection, glaucoma, cataracts, and osteoporosis.
However, people taking Prednisone may not be stuck with these forever.
NTI has found that combining cannabis strain NTI164 with Prednisone allows people to get the anti-inflammatory benefits of Prednisone at a lower dose. Taking a lower dose will likely give people fewer side effects.Â
While you can see the full list of results in NTI’s December 1st ASX announcement, NTI was able to reduce Prednisone’s dose “anywhere from 70% to 90%” by combining it with NTI164. To find this, the study compared Prednisone to a combination of NTI164 and Prednisone in human neuronal cells (cells of the nervous system and brain).
According to Neurotech International Non-Executive Director, Professor Emeritus Allan Cripps, giving people lower doses of Prednisone could result in “better clinical outcomes.”
If this can be translated to human studies; better clinical outcomes with less side effects would be expected for the treatment of diseases associated (with) immune inflammation.
He also says the results of the study demonstrate the “applications of the ‘entourage effect’.”Â
NTI164 was developed by Dolce Cann Global and is included in a patent filed by NTI. NTI is currently looking for strategic partners to commercialise NTI164. The company is also researching how NTI164 impacts two other anti-inflammatory drugs (Diclofenac and Celebrex).
The Corticosteroids market is currently valued at around $US5 billion (roughly $AU7 billion) has a CAGR of 4.3% — so NTI’s work with NTI164 could be very lucrative for the company if it hits the market.
NTI164 is just one small part of NTI’s work, as the company is also researching and developing rare cannabis strains. They’ve currently licensed 80 unique strains.
