Clinical Trial to Study Effects of Steroid-Cannabidiol (CBD) Treatment on Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients

A small-scale clinical trial is currently underway to evaluate the use of Cannabidiol (CBD) for the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 infection.

The clinical trial is being held by STERO Biotechs Ltd. (Bnei Brak, Israel), a clinical-stage company focused on CBD formulation research and development, in collaboration with Mor Research Applications, the Tech Transfer Office (TTO) of the largest Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) in Israel – Clalit. The small-scale clinical trial is being held at Rabin Medical Center Golda HaSharon Campus, treating 10 patients as a 'POC' with the aim of benefitting and helping hospitalized patients with COVID-19 infection.

Steroid treatment is usually the first or second line of treatment for hospitalized patients. CBD enhances the therapeutic effect of steroid treatment and treats the bio-mechanism affected by the virus. The initial study will evaluate the tolerability, safety, and efficacy of the CBD treatment, for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 infection. The treatment cycle will be for a few weeks with a subsequent follow-up period of the same length. Under Stero's allowed IP and pending the success of the 'POC', the company plans to scale up and expand to a phase 2a multi-center clinical trial, with an additional 40 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 infection, under FDA clinical trial guidelines and regulations.

“We estimate that our CBD-based treatment can enhance the current treatment of those patients who are in life-threatening conditions,” said David Bassa, Founder & CEO of Stero Biotechs. “Hospitalized COVID-19 patients are mostly being treated with steroids and our study is planned to demonstrate the benefit of a combined solution with steroid treatments. We are hopeful that this study will lead to faster benefit for the growing number of COVID-19 patients in Israel and around the world.”

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STERO Biotechs Ltd.