Israeli Biotech Company To Start Clinical Trials of CBD-Enhanced COVID-19 Treatment

An Israel-based CBD company believes it may have a potential treatment for COVID-19.

Stero Biotechs announced this past weekend that it will start a clinical trial this month with the hope of mitigating the effects of those infected with the coronavirus. The study will begin immediately at Rabin Medical Center Golda HaSharon Campus in Petah Tikva, Israel. The company will test a steroid-CBD treatment on patients hospitalized due to the virus.

“Steroid treatment is usually the first or second line of treatment for hospitalized patients. CBD enhances the therapeutic effect of steroid treatment and treats the bio-mechanism affected by the virus,” Stero said in a press release. “The initial study will evaluate the tolerability, safety, and efficacy of the CBD treatment, for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 Infections.”

Stero Biotechs, which was founded about three years ago and has a headquarters in Israel, describes itself as “a clinical-stage company committed to the research and development of novel Cannabidiol (CBD) based treatment solutions that will potentially benefit millions of patients.”

David Bassa, the founder and chief executive officer of the company, said in a statement that the “CBD-based treatment can enhance the current treatment of those patients who are in life-threatening conditions.”

“Hospitalized COVID-19 patients are mostly being treated with steroids and our study is planned to demonstrate the benefit of a combined solution with Steroid treatments,” Bassa said. “We are hopeful that this study will lead to faster benefit for the growing number of COVID-19 patients in Israel and around the world.”

The initial trial will involve only 10 patients at Rabin Medical Center, but Stero said it ultimately “plans to scale up and expand to a phase 2a multi-center clinical trial, with an additional 40 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 Infections, under FDA clinical trial guidelines and regulations.”

The company said the initial “treatment cycle will be for a few weeks with a subsequent follow-up period of the same length.”