Zelda Therapeutics (ASX:ZLD) has entered a strategic collaboration with Australian-based Emerald Clinics to access clinical data from patients treated with medicinal cannabis for pain and insomnia.
Emerald Clinics owns and operates an Australian network of dedicated medicinal cannabis clinics.
Under the terms of the agreement, Emerald will provide access to de-identified real-world longitudinal data collected from patients prescribed cannabis medicines for the treatment of pain and/or insomnia.
The data will include details regarding cannabis dosages prescribed to patients, their responses to treatment and the impact on the usage of non-cannabis medicines such as opioids.
Zelda said this information will inform its ongoing clinical trial strategy, which is focussed on developing new cannabis-based treatments to reduce opioid usage in patients with chronic pain as well as patients with insomnia and autism.
Zelda said the agreement also includes an option under which it can access real-world data collected from patients prescribed its branded cannabis products, which the company said it is aiming to bring to market in 2020.
A further option is for Zelda to engage Emerald to assist with the design and patient recruitment for future clinical trials.
Zelda will pay Emerald an initial fee of $40,000 to access existing de-identified data while subscription fees for the additional data-modules will be negotiated at a later date.
“Australia’s commitment to developing a highly regulated market for prescription cannabis medicines means this country is now a global leader in collection of high-quality longitudinal clinical data relating to patients treated with medicinal cannabis," said Zelda Therapeutics managing director, Dr Richard Hopkins.
"We believe Emerald’s approach to collection and curation of patient data makes this information a very valuable commodity world-wide.
"Being able to access real-world data, in real-time, from patients treated with regulated cannabis medicines – including, in the near future, our own clinically validated products – will provide Zelda with a significant competitive advantage. This information will inform the design of future clinical trials, reduce the risks and costs of development and accelerate the path to market.
"These key value-adding features will further differentiate Zelda from its global peers and enhance the commercialisation opportunities for the company.”
Emerald’s CEO, Dr Michael Winlo, said, “We’re delighted to be working with clinically-focussed companies such as Zelda Therapeutics. This collaboration validates Emerald's unique care model that emphasises the captures of high-quality data to improve the development of cannabis medicines for patients.”