Incannex Healthcare has announced its hydroxychloroquine/CBD cocktail IHL-675A could be an effective treatment for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Results from a mouse model of colitis suggest the combination has superior anti-inflammatory activity compared to CBD and HCQ used separately.
While the drug is yet to be tested in humans, tests in rodents suggest it has potential as a treatment for asthma, constructive obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchitis and sepsis-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome, a leading cause of death from COVID-19.
Incannex is planning to meet with the US Food and Drug Administration to discuss a regulatory pathway for IHL-675A to be approved as a new drug. It now intends to add inflammatory bowel disease as a potential indication.
IBD describes disorders involving chronic inflammation of the digestive tract, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Both are often characterised by diarrhea, rectal bleeding, abdominal pain, fatigue and weight loss and can lead to life-threatening complications..
Incannex CEO and managing director Joel Latham said: “We know that CBD has been the focus of academic studies in relation to inflammation for some time.
“After a variety of our own pre-clinical studies, our proprietary IHL-675A combination CBD and HCQ drug may have the potential to be clinically relevant to a large variety of conditions, including those for which CBD has previously been a research target molecule for their treatment.”
UPDATE MARCH 17, 2021: Incannex has found another potential benefit for IHL-675A, this time as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. Positive results from an in vivo study model have triggered the launch of a sixth clinical program.
The study model assessed the anti-inflammatory capabilities of IHL-675A and found it to be more effective in treating rheumatoid arthritis than either CBD or hydroxychloroquine alone.
