A trial of a new painkiller has gone drastically wrong in France, leaving one person brain dead and five others in a serious condition.
On Friday, one source apparently familiar with the situation initially said the drug was a cannabis-based drug. French Health Minister Marisol Touraine later denied this, however, and said the painkiller contained neither cannabis nor any substance derived from cannabis.
The medicine involved works by targeting the body’s pain-controlling endocannabinoid system, which is also responsible for the human response to cannabis.
France’s health ministry said that the six volunteers at the facility in Rennes, Brittany, had been in good health until taking the oral medication, which was manufactured by Portugal-based Bial lab and being tested in a Phase I trial at the Biotrial clinic in the northwestern French city.
Touraine said two investigations had been launched, including one by France’s National Agency for Medicines and Health Products (ANSM).
The volunteers are all men aged 28 to 49, Touraine told a news conference. They started taking the drug on January 7. One person started feeling ill on Sunday and the other five afterwards.
In total, 90 people have taken part in the trial, taking some dosage of the drug, Touraine said, adding that others took a placebo.