Tilray Canada has launched its newest product, Tilray 2:100, a formulation of therapeutic cannabis oil containing a high concentration of cannabidiol (CBD), which may help treat Canadian patients with conditions like Dravet syndrome.

“We are excited to offer this highly concentrated CBD product to patients in Canada. We developed this product around a strong existing evidence base that CBD may be used in treating seizures when other anti-seizure drugs have failed,” Catherine Jacobson, PhD, director of Tilray’s clinical research program, said in a press release.

At a target concentration of 2 mg/ml of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and 100 mg/ml of CBD for a total cannabinoid amount of 80 mg of THC and 4,000 mg of CBD in each 40 ml bottle, Tilray 2:100 contains the highest concentration of plant-based CBD in a medical cannabis product available through Canada’s Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations.

Tilray 2:100 contains the same target concentration of CBD and THC as an investigational treatment being tested in a current open-label Phase 1 clinical trial (NCT02983695) on pediatric epilepsy, taking place in Toronto.

Supported by Tilray, the trial is determining the tolerability and optimal dose of a CBD-rich cannabis extract (TIL-TC150) as an adjunct treatment in children with severe therapy-resistant epilepsy due to Dravet syndrome.

Tilray 2:100 is a whole-plant extract that uses CBD and is formulated with a coconut-derived carrier oil. The oral formulation comes ready to ingest directly.

The therapy will first be made available to children with treatment-resistant forms of epilepsy. As supply increases, the medical cannabis oil should become available to additional patients in Canada.

It will be sold at an introductory discount price, as well as in a compassionate pricing program based on financial need.

Although there is currently no cure for Dravet syndrome, some investigational treatments are being evaluated that can reduce the number of seizures and help make the condition more manageable.

One of these therapies is Epidiolex (GWP42003-P), an investigative, oral cannabidiol solution developed by GW Pharmaceuticals.

Like Tilray 2:100, Epidiolex is a non-psychoactive extract from the marijuana plant, meaning it does not have the mind-altering effects typical of THC, the main component of the plant that makes people “high.”

Scientists are still investigating how cannabidiol works to relieve epilepsy and hypothesize it may be due to its ability to interact with non-cannabinoid receptors in the brain – our brains have a natural endocannabinoid system with receptors that respond to CBD and THC.

In April 2018, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory committee recommended approval of Epidiolex as a treatment for two rare forms of severe epilepsy — Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes.

An FDA approval would make Epidiolex the first-ever approved treatment for Dravet in the country, as well as the first plant-derived cannabidiol medicine of any kind approved for prescription use in the United States.