Fortrea has inked a deal with Australia’s Incannex Healthcare to manage investigative new drug clinical trials for a cannabinoid-based treatment for obstructive sleep apnea.
The phase 2 and phase 3 trials will be designed to assess Incannex’s IHL-42X, a low dose of the anti-nausea drug dronabinol, a synthetic form of tetrahydrocannabinol, and the diuretic acetazolamide.
A fairly common condition, obstructive sleep apnea causes the walls of the throat to relax and narrow during sleep, interrupting normal breathing that can lead to regularly interrupted sleep. In more severe cases, the condition can temporarily stop breathing during sleep.
Fortrea—the CRO spinoff from Labcorp—was previously engaged in a 12-week operational feasibility study of the trial that was provided to potential investigators to gauge their interest, the company said in a July 18 press release. While 63 sites said they were interested, Incannex is targeting 45 for the study.
“Fortrea’s familiarity with the study and established relationships with potential trial sites will expedite the study start-up and site engagement activities,” Joel Latham, Incannex chief executive and managing director, said in the release.
Labcorp announced plans last July to spin off its CRO operations into an independent, publicly traded company dubbed Fortrea. While under the Labcorp umbrella, the division reaped $3 billion in revenue in 2022, accounting for between 15% to 20% of Labcorp’s central lab business.