Strainprint announces research partnership to identify how cannabis can be used to treat endometriosis

Strainprint Technologies Ltd. will work with Israeli research leaders, Lumir Lab and Gynica, to conduct what is believed to be the world’s first international clinical study on using cannabis to treat endometriosis, a condition affecting 180 million women around the globe.

It is estimated one in 10 women between the ages of 15 to 49 will be affected by symptoms of endometriosis—where tissue from the uterine lining migrates to other organs inside the body—during their lifetime, notes a statement from Strainprint, a Toronto-based provider of demand-side cannabis data and badytics.

Establishing the world’s first and largest database of medical cannabis effects on women, the clinical trial partnership will see simultaneous studies carried out in Israel and Canada. Strainprint reports the study is expected to run in the second quarter of 2019.

Strainprint figures provided to The GrowthOp indicate four percent of women using the company’s app are treating for endometriosis. Broken down, 14 percent of users aged 18 to 24 treat for the condition, 39 percent of those 25 to 34, 34 percent of those 35 to 44, and 12 percent of those 45 and older (age is unknown for one percent).

“With interactions, topics and forums on our Strainprint Community, endometriosis is often a concern, in addition to many other women’s health issues,” the company reports.

The new partnership will leverage Strainprint’s research-ready platform to provide ethics approval, validated questionnaires, custom surveys, real-time treatment tracking and data visualization in support of in-clinic visits. Further, Gynica and Lumir Lab will use the recently launched community portal to recruit as many as 1,000 patients in each country.

Based on a common product formulation, Gynica senior scientist Dr. Sari Prutchi Sagiv will develop the joint-study protocol for clinical trial applications in both countries; Lumir Lab, drawing first from Strainprint’s 900,000-plus, real-time patient outcomes and 40 million medical cannabis data points, will narrow and validate a formulation to focus on.

The study seeks to develop clinically validated cannabinoid-based products that can be approved for international distribution. A key objective is to identify which active cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids, “in relative combination, provide the most effective relief, reduce pain and prevent reoccurrence,” explains Gynica’s Professor Moshe Hod, president of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine.

“Gynica holds a federal licence by the Israeli Ministry of Health to research the effects of cannabinoids on women’s health and gynecological disorders,” the statement notes.

Michelle Arbus, vice-president of research for Strainprint, will work with Hod, who is also a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Tel Aviv University medical school, and world-renowned cannabis scientist Professor Lumir Hanus.

“Endometriosis remains one of the most misdiagnosed and least understood medical conditions, and currently, there is no cure,” Hod explains. “Strainprint’s early observational studies show that medical cannabis treatment has a positive effect on symptoms related to endometriosis, but much more research is required,” he states.

“The combination of Strainprint’s big data badytics combined with Gynica’s scientific team and clinical research capabilities create a unique and innovative approach for providing evidence-based products to patients worldwide, and moreover for women who are under-treated by current solutions,” comments Dr. Prutchi Sagiv.

Calling the condition a significant medical issue, “we’re committed to helping improve the lives of millions of women suffering from endometriosis,” says Strainprint CEO Andrew Muroff.

Strainprint is open to partnerships with researchers. “We are always speaking to various research groups and researchers about how to partner to explore our data for clinical research. It is important to us to utilize our data to push the medical cannabis barometer forward,” Arbus told The GrowthOp.

“Currently, we are exploring a potential research study on pain, as we find that many of our app users, based on their conditions, are suffering from pain,” she points out. From what can be seen from the app uses, many users “are treating their pain successfully with medical cannabis,” Arbus adds.

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