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Rabin Medical Center in Petach Tikvah, Israel. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
JNS.org – The Israel-based biotech company Stero Biotechs has started a small-scale clinical trial at Rabin Medical Center’s Golda Hasharon Campus in Petach Tikvah on the effects of a steroid-Cannabidiol (CBD) treatment on hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
“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 company said in a press release announcing the clinical trial. “The initial study will evaluate the tolerability, safety and efficacy of the CBD treatment for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 Infections.”
Ten patients will be in the clinical trial; the treatment cycle will be for a few weeks with a follow-up period of the same length. Pending the trial’s success, the company plans to expand to a multi-center clinical trial with an additional 40 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, under FDA clinical trial guidelines and regulations.
“We estimate that our CBD-based treatment can enhance the current treatment of those patients who are suffering life-threatening conditions,” said Stero Biotechs Founder and CEO David Bassa.
“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,” he continued. “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.”
Stero Biotechs, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Israel, is a clinical-stage company that focuses on the research and development of novel CBD-based treatment solutions.