LONDON, July 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Ananda Pharma Limited is a UK-based biopharmaceutical company developing regulatory approved cannabidiol medicines to treat complex, chronic conditions. It has lead programmes in endometriosis and chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN).
The directors are thrilled to announce the first patient has been dosed in the ACTiON clinical trial investigating the efficacy of MRX1, Ananda’s proprietary CBD-based drug candidate, in treatment of patients with Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy has been recruited, randomised and has taken their first dose of either MRX1 or placebo on the trial.
Ananda’s CEO, Melissa Sturgess, commented: “We are delighted to see the first patient dosed in the CIPN trial using our patent pending MRX1 formulation.This is gold standard work and we are honoured to be part of it.“
The Phase 2 trial, led by Professor Marie Fallon of The University of Edinburgh and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) as a non-dilutive Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) grant, is designed to assess the efficacy and safety of MRX1 in the treatment of CIPN. It will also assess the impact of MRX1 on quality of life and healthcare utilisation. The trial is a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study with a target enrolment of 92 participants.
CIPN is one of the most frequent chemotherapy side-effects but has no effective therapies and is considered a critical unmet medical need. In addition to continuing to affect patients following their cancer treatment it often means that chemotherapy dosing needs to be reduced or stopped during treatment and thus potentially increasing risk of death or duration of treatment. In the UK alone, there are more than 140,000 new cases of CIPN per year and the prevalence runs into almost a million patients. In the US there are approximately 400,000 new patients each year at an annual healthcare cost of $2.5bn.
| Melissa Sturgess CEO | |
|
Jeremy Sturgess-Smith Finance Director |
About Ananda Pharma
Ananda Pharma is a UK pharmaceutical company providing its MRX1 oral solution to two Phase 2 clinical trials: ENDOCAN (endometriosis pain, funded by NHS Scotland) and ACTiON (CIPN, funded by an NIHR EME grant). The Company works with world-class scientists, including Key Opinion Leaders at the University of Edinburgh.