ASX Health Stocks: Cannabis biotech Emyria all set for Phase 1 clinical trial of lead CBD drug

The ASX 200 Health Index (XHJ) is up by 0.30% at the time of writing, compared to the broader index which is up by 0.60%.

Clinical stage cannabis biotech, Emyria (ASX: EMD), announced that participant recruitment, screening and consenting has commenced for its Phase 1 clinical trial of EMD-RX5.

The Phase 1 study will assess the safety and bioavailability of EMD-RX5 compared to Epidyolex in 12 healthy human volunteers, who will receive both cannabinoid (CBD) treatments.

The drug is being studied for multiple indications including psychological distress.

Psychological distress is a state of emotional suffering typically characterised by depression and anxiety, and affects around 15% of Australian adults.

There is currently no over-the-counter treatment, and Epidyolex is the only CBD-only medicine formally registered with the TGA and the FDA.

But recent pharmacokinetic studies comparing EMD-RX5 to Epidyolex demonstrated that EMD-RX5 had a higher bioavailability profile compared to Epidyolex.

“EMD-RX5 meets the strict requirements for product purity with both the TGA in Australia and the FDA in the USA, and as such, we believe EMD-RX5 has the potential to become a registered treatment in additional markets and for multiple clinical indications,” said Emyria CEO, Dr Michael Winlo.

“Since the EMD-RX5 clinical development program was developed with insights from Emyria’s growing Real-World Data asset, the company is able to move quickly from Phase 1 through to a Pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial,” he added.

Dosing of the first patient is now expected by the end of March.

Emyria share price today:

EMvision’s new board appointments

EMV Medical Device (ASX:EMV) announced that Professors Geoffrey Donnan and Stephan Davis, eminent neurologists and recognised leaders in the field of stroke care, will join the EMVision’s Clinical Advisory Board in an ex-officio capacity.

They will also become co-chairs of the Australian Stroke Alliance (ASA), and will be joined by stroke neurologist and Mobile Stroke Unit (MSU) expert, Dr Angela Dos Santos.

In February, Dos Santos gave a presentation to the prestigious International Stroke Conference held in New Orleans on EMV’s medical imaging technology.

She’s also Australia’s first Aboriginal neurologist with subspecialty training in stroke.

EMVision share price today:

AdAlta to receive $1.6m in R&D loan

Cell therapy specialist AdAlta (ASX:1AD) has received a further $1.6 million under the Victorian Government’s R&D Cash Flow Loan Initiative.

In September last year, AdAlta had executed a $4m funding facility with Treasury Corporation of Victoria (TCV) as part of the initiative.

The company has now met the facility requirements to receive the full $1.6m second tranche of funds, bringing the total borrowed to the maximum amount of $4m.

The initiative is administered by Invest Victoria, and was designed to support innovative Victorian SMEs who are investing in R&D activity to develop the products and technologies vital to the state’s future economy.

Interest paid on the facility advances is variable, and is currently at 0.265% per annum.

AdAlta says the the funds will further extend its cash runway, and be used to further progress development of its lead product AD-214 to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients.