Shortage of pharmaceutical CBD oil for medical cannabis experimentation

Patients' fears proved real. While last week we reported on the Possible shortage of medical cannabis products in France, a communication campaign aimed at all those involved in the experiment confirmed the situation.

The experiment will thus lose its supply of THC-free pharmaceutical CBD oil - Little Green Pharma's CBD 50 oil - which accounted for around 60% of prescribed products, and with no existing stock.

According to our information, the laboratory in charge does not wish to continue offering its product either free of charge or at €14 per vial, a price well below its manufacturing, transport and customs costs, as proposed in the Ministry of Health's call for tenders for the extension of the experiment.

The proposals made for patients who are treated with this product are to replace it :

• for epileptic children stabilized with Epidyolex
• for stabilized adults suffering from spasticity and/or multiple sclerosis with CBD:THC 20:1 oil

Adult patients who have found satisfaction in a pure CBD oil (without THC) should therefore change treatment and experiment with a new CBD oil with THC, which some know they cannot tolerate.

Once again, The role of the Direction Générale de la Santé (DGS) is widely criticized, by many sources we contacted, for its lack of anticipation and interest in this experiment, to the detriment of sick people.

Some, like drug law specialist Yann Bisiou, put it bluntly:

«There are CBD stores on every street corner, and the DGS is unable to find pharmaceutical CBD. The legal fragility of the system chosen by the DGS was clearly evident and a source of litigation. Either they're incompetent, or they want to sink the experiment,» he confides.

A closer look at the call for tenders, which was available online, reveals that funding for the extension of the experiment was taken from the budget of patient associations for victims of therapeutic accidents. A sign, if necessary, The DGS is taking the experimentation of medical cannabis in France very lightly. A «scandalous and shameful» situation for Yann Bisiou.

As we understand it, the DGS belatedly realized that a product had not found a buyer in the call for tenders for the extension of the experiment, despite numerous warnings from manufacturers. Since then, the company has been trying to find solutions to avoid a product shortage.

It was also in this context that she hastily removed CBD-based drugs from the list of narcotics and placed them on the list of poisonous substances, bypassing the ANSM, which normally has jurisdiction over the subject, as announced by Nicolas Authier last week. One of the aims of this change in classification would be to reduce import costs, as the legal trade in «narcotics» is extremely controlled and expensive, and thus facilitate the supply of experimental drugs.

A change that could have been made before the shortage? And which could lead to a return of the missing oil for patients? And how soon?

We are awaiting the DGS's response and will complete this article if necessary.