#72 Notable Clinical Interest
Emerging findings or policy developments worth monitoring closely.
If you or a loved one is living with Alzheimer’s-related agitation, the expansion of this clinical trial means more opportunities to access investigational cannabinoid therapy and brings us closer to having FDA-reviewed evidence for cannabis-based treatment options in dementia care.
The expansion of clinical trial sites for IGC Pharma’s Phase 2 CALMA trial investigating cannabinoid-based therapy for Alzheimer’s-associated agitation represents a meaningful step in building the evidence base for cannabis medicine in neurodegenerative disease. Alzheimer’s-related behavioral symptoms like agitation and aggression are notoriously difficult to manage with conventional medications, and cannabinoid therapies have shown early promise in addressing neuroinflammation and behavioral dysregulation through endocannabinoid system modulation. Adding multi-site clinical networks to this trial increases enrollment capacity and brings us closer to the rigorous data needed to move cannabinoid therapies from anecdotal use into standardized clinical practice for dementia care.
“We have been using cannabinoids clinically for agitation in dementia patients for years with promising results, and it is past time that formal trials catch up to what many of us are already seeing in practice.”
🧠 Cannabinoid research in Alzheimer’s disease is advancing, with a Phase 2 trial expanding its clinical site network to accelerate enrollment and data collection. Agitation in Alzheimer’s patients is one of the most distressing symptoms for both patients and caregivers, and current pharmaceutical options like antipsychotics carry significant risks including increased mortality. The endocannabinoid system is deeply involved in neuroinflammation, synaptic plasticity, and behavioral modulation, making it a logical therapeutic target in neurodegenerative disease. What excites me most as a clinician is that we are finally seeing the kind of multi-site, controlled trial infrastructure that can produce data robust enough to shift prescribing guidelines. For the thousands of families I work with who are already exploring cannabinoids for their loved ones with dementia, this research cannot come soon enough.
Have thoughts on this? Share it: