The results of a study conducted at Yale University which investigated the use of a THC-based drug treatment for adults with Tourette Syndrome have been published by The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences.
The study used clinical-stage pharmaceutical company SciSparc’s SCI-110 proprietary drug candidate in a phase IIa clinical trial.
Conducted at Yale’s department of psychiatry and child study centre, the trial evaluated SCI-110’s impact on tic severity in 16 adults using the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS). It found a significant improvement in tic symptoms over time, with an average improvement of more than 20%, or a 7-point decrease in YGTSS score.
SCI-110 is based on two active components, THC and PEA (palmitoylethanolamide), an endogenous fatty acid amide belonging to the class of nuclear factor agonists, proteins that regulate the expression of genes.
SciSparc said the combination of the two induces a ‘sparing effect’ reaction, adding: “It is proposed that the presence of the PEA molecule increases the efficacy of THC, while reducing the required dosage and decreasing associated deleterious adverse events.”
SciSparc chief technologies officer Dr Adi Zuloff-Shani described the collaboration with Yale as “an example of beneficial partnership between industry and academia, an important means in the development of treatments aiming to relieve patients’ symptoms, especially in diseases where current treatment is poor, ineffective and accompanied by multiple side effects”.
Based on the study results, SciSparc is now initiating a randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of daily oral SCI-110 in treating adults with Tourette Syndrome.
