New tender for CBD oil missing from French medical cannabis trials

Whereas, according to de numerous testimonials relayed above, Although the Direction Générale de la Santé (DGS) had not correctly anticipated the extension of the medical cannabis experiment, it is now trying to salvage the situation.

On Wednesday April 5, the DGS published a new call for tenders to find a solution. the absence of oil with a high CBD content today delivered to the majority of trial patients. For context, the extension of the trial was necessary because the DGS did not make progress on the 2 main subjects that were to be addressed during the first 2 years, namely :

• the status of these products (ad hoc, in this case to be incorporated into the public health code, or magistral preparation)
• whether or not reimbursed by health insurance

On the patient side, the experiment was widely acclaimed on the occasion of an evaluation report carried out by various external agencies.

A wide-ranging invitation to tender

Gone is the €14 price per product proposed in the first tender. The second leaves a range of €10,000 to €1 million for the supply of 56,250,000 milligrams of cannabidiol, the equivalent of 22,000 50mL bottles dosed at 50mg/mL, the maximum quantity that the DGS deems necessary for the one-year extension of the experiment. According to our calculations, this would cover the needs of almost 1,000 people, at a rate of 2 vials per month.

Gone, too, are the days of precise cannabinoid dosages. Packaging must respect a maximum THC:CBD ratio of 1:50, with no requirement for the absence of THC when the missing oil contained none. The product may even exceed 0.3% THC, which would place it on the list of narcotics, a category of medical products requiring more authorizations for import and distribution - but which is already the case for most experimental products.

The ratios used to assess the various criteria for winning the contract were also modified. In the first tender, product quality accounted for 30% of the final score, compared with 15% in the new tender, and ability to deliver was rated at 12% in the first tender, compared with 30% in the second.

The capsules were no longer part of the first tender for the extension.

The deadline for responding to the call for tenders, available online, is set for May 4.