This Pharma Company Is Working With Israeli Medical Center To Research And Treat Autism With CBD

SciSparc Ltd. SPRC, a pharmaceutical company focusing on the development of therapies to treat disorders of the central nervous system, announced it has signed an agreement with the Soroka University Medical Center, located in Be'er-Sheva, Israel.

What's It About?

SciSparc, along with the Medical Center, aims to conduct a clinical study for SCI-210 in patients suffering from autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

In addition, "the trial will investigate the effect and safety of SciSparc’s drug candidate SCI-210, a proprietary combination of cannabidiol, and CannAmide, in comparison to CBD monotherapy in treating ASD," reads the press release.

“The signing of the agreement with Soroka Medical Center represents another step towards commencing our clinical trial in ASD,” said Oz Adler, SciSparc's CEO. "The trial in ASD strengthens the Company's advanced clinical programs, alongside our phase IIb clinical trial for SCI-110 in patients with Tourette Syndrome and the phase IIa clinical trial of SCI-110 in patients with Alzheimer's disease and agitation."

The study focuses on evaluating the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of SCI-210 in children with ASD in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over study. ASD is a condition related to brain development that impacts how a person perceives and socializes with others, causing problems in social interaction and communication. The term 'spectrum' in autism spectrum disorder refers to the wide range of symptoms and severity.

The study's design includes a 20-week, randomized double-blind placebo-controlled cross-over clinical trial of 60 children.

The trial has three primary efficacy endpoints:

• Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Community (ABC-C) parent questionnaire;
• Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement (CGI-I) performed by a clinician; and
• The effective therapeutic dose.

Background: To conduct the clinical trial, SciSparc received approvals from the Israeli Ministry of Health as well as the Ethics Committee of the Soroka University Medical Center in 2022.

"We are honored to collaborate with Soroka Medical Center, a leading medical center in Israel that co-established and is a partner of the Israeli National Centre for Autism and Neurodevelopment Research, a leading international center for innovation in translational research, diagnosis and interventions in ASD and other neurodevelopmental conditions," Adler added. "Soroka Medical Center is yet another example of our continuous efforts to collaborate with leading medical institutions in the world." 

Israeli Researchers Discover Benefits Of THC for Autism

Most studies focused on using cannabis for treating the symptoms of autism highlight the benefits of CBD.

However, researchers from Tel Aviv University have discovered that the psychoactive compound THC could actually be more useful. “Studies that are underway mostly don’t focus enough on the details of what it is in the cannabis that may be helping people,” researcher Shani Poleg told the Times of Israel. “In our study, we looked at the details and came up with surprising and interesting findings."

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Photo: Courtesy Of Annie Spratt On Unsplash