When it comes to drugs that help with pain relief, there are often risks that come along with the benefits. One of these is substance abuse, also called addiction.
Some drugs that could greatly benefit people with certain medical conditions, or most often those recovering from injury, often workplace-related, end up causing problems or being unsuitable because of their addictive properties.
Enter: a new cannabis derived drug that could provide a non-addictive alternative treatment option for chronic pain! We’ll explore what this drug is, what’s special about it, and what it means for the future of opioids and health care.
A German drug company named Vertanical developed VER-01, a cannabis-derived drug that contains the full spectrum of cannabis compounds. This includes reportedly small amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
In clinical trials, patients with chronic lower-back pain reported reduced pain and improved sleep. Vertanical CEO Clemens Fischer said, “Pain patients around the world are trapped in a vicious cycle of pain, insomnia, limited mobility, and depression.” VER-01 has the potential to successfully break this cycle.
Cannabis is used for pain relief in many different contexts throughout history, and this is one of the latest and most amazing ways.
What makes VER-01 so special is how it differs from comparable painkillers on the market. Opioid painkillers are deeply addictive, and the company claims that VER-01 is “the first non-addictive and clinically proven painkiller based on the cannabis plant.”
Although VER-01 contains THC, Fischer says the trials show that users did not become intoxicated because the THC levels were too low to cause it.
This is incredibly exciting and promising because it would allow patients to receive all the incredible pain-relief benefits that cannabis has to offer without the potential risk of addiction and resulting harm that often comes with opioids used for pain relief.
Fischer explains that 20–25 percent of patients felt a bit dizzy for a couple of weeks after starting the medication. This could be attributable to the THC content, but that’s not yet confirmed.
The pharmaceutical team found no evidence of other side effects commonly linked to cannabis, such as appetite changes. “We were looking very carefully, because that’s what we hear from cannabis smokers — that the appetite increases as well as their weight. But we haven’t seen any increase in weight,” Fischer said.
Even with the potential dizziness, this drug is still a marked difference from opioid drugs that get patients high and can result in serious dependence, abuse, or addiction, toxic side effects, and fatal respiratory depression.
READ: Marijuana vs. Opioids: Which Is More Effective for Treating Pain?
While VER-01 is very exciting, its promising claims are currently being independently verified, and it’s not on the market yet.
Researchers find the drug effective in a final-stage clinical trial involving 800 people with chronic back pain. The trial compared VER-01 to a placebo, and the team has submitted the results to the medical journal The Lancet for review.
Moving forward, the company has said that they have “begun discussions with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to request regulatory approval in Britain.” This approval would be necessary to start distributing the drug outside clinical trials and to the public.
If this regulatory approval in Europe is granted, the drug would be sold under the brand name Exilby, and it would be taken as drops.
The drug development process is still in relatively early stages, but it is promising and moving along.
VER-01 could mean absolutely incredible things for the future of medical drugs.
While opioids are occasionally prescribed for pain relief, they have also presented some serious health risks, such as addiction. VER-01 presents amazing evidence of how cannabis can allow for comparable benefits without these intense risks. For people already struggling with OUD, further study may show how they can reduce their dependence – as cannabis substitution already does in general.
Although VER-01 is in early stages, it is possible that the future of pain relief could include more cannabis-based drugs over opioids and NSAIDs. While also non-addictive, NSAIDs like acetaminophen and ibuprofen are known to cause long-term risks to organs like the liver, kidneys, and stomach. This new avenue could open up effective pain relief to a broader group of patients while minimizing risk.
Because the development of VER-01 is in early stages, nothing concrete can be said yet about its effectiveness or the impact that it will have. However, there is a lot of positive potential.
Given how effective VER-01 is shown in trials for pain control, and the lack of “high” or many side effects, it could be an incredible option that would eliminate the highly addictive risks of some opioids and the organ toxicity of NSAIDs.
We hope to see VER-01 succeed and create a path for more cannabis-based drugs to enter the market and aid those with chronic pain and other health issues. This could mean major things for patients, health care providers, and pharmaceutical companies alike.
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