A trial to determine whether cannabis-based medicines can reduce disability in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) has been funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC).
The MRC has awarded £2 million to fund the CUPID study (Cannabinoid Use in Progressive Inflammatory brain Disease) which will be led by Professor John Zajicek of the Peninsula Medical School and Derriford Hospital, in collaboration with Professor Alan Thompson at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (part of University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) and Institute of Neurology, University College London.
The three-year CUPID study, which is due to begin later this year, will recruit 500 patients with progressive MS from neurology centres across the UK. The trial will evaluate whether the principal active compound found in cannabis, delta9-THC, might slow the development of disability.
The research will follow on from a previous trial carried out by the same team, called Cannabinoids in MS (CAMS), which focused on testing the symptomatic benefit from cannabinoids over a 15-week and 12-month period. Whilst the CAMS study was taking place, experimental evidence came to light to suggest that delta9-THC, a drug that was being used in the CAMS study, may have the potential to protect nerve cells.