Largest ever cannabinoid trial on pain finds significant improvement

Involving more than 1600 participants from across the US, the companies said the study is the first of its kind to examine the synergistic impact of rare cannabinoids like Cannabichromene (CBC) and Cannabigerol (CBG) on pain.

All of the enhanced product formulations included in this clinical trial led to statistically significant improvements in pain, anxiety, sleep quality and overall quality of life. On average, nearly half (44.8 per cent) of participants who received any of the enhanced products experienced a clinically meaningful improvement in their pain, meaning they realised a distinct and palpable improvement in their quality of life through improved pain symptoms.

The trial was specifically designed to examine if adding other ingredients to a formulation in conjunction with CBD could lead to better outcomes than with CBD alone. The trial included 6 product arms, which all contained CBD at 40 mg per serving. Most arms also contained varying levels of rare cannabinoids, including CBG and CBC.

Overall, the formulations performed roughly the same for the improvement of pain, anxiety, sleep quality and quality of life. However, for people with moderate pain, there was evidence that the addition of 20mg CBC to a formulation containing 40mg of CBD could significantly improve its pain-relieving effects—particularly when this enhanced product was taken for two or more weeks.

A diverse sample of 1629 pain sufferers from across the US were randomised to take one of the six product formulations for a month while reporting their pain relative to specific benchmarks that included severity, general activity, sleep quality, anxiety symptoms and overall quality of life.

All products tested were deemed safe to consume and only about 1 in 10 participants reported side effects, none of which were deemed severe.

“While existing studies suggest that cannabidiol and rare cannabinoids, including CBG and CBC, have considerable potential to support wellness, there has been a glaring gap in scientifically valid research dedicated to guiding effective product development,” said OBX CEO Dave Neundorfer.

“That’s why we collaborated with the renowned medical experts and data scientists at Radicle Science to better understand the potential of rare cannabinoids as an ingredient and, in particular, their ability to support better quality of life outcomes relating to pain.”

Radicle Science and OBX said they will continue their partnership with similar large-scale randomised controlled clinical trials on rare cannabinoids, including THCV, CBN, CBG and CBC. Radicle will be studying their effects on other health and lifestyle benchmarks, such as energy, focus, appetite, sleep disturbance, stress and anxiety, across thousands of study participants.

Pelin Thorogood, Radicle Science Co-founder and Executive Chair added: “It was promising to see that the addition of a rare cannabinoid could augment the effects of CBD.

“We will be further exploring the entourage effect with an upcoming study, Radicle Spectrum, which will be the first head-to-head study comparing full or broad-spectrum CBD to isolate and placebo. It is our hope this study will provide data to help the FDA ascertain whether CBD isolate is a drug.”