“Introduction: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) affects over half a billion people worldwide. Current pharmacologic treatments, comprising mainly non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids, offer limited efficacy and pose significant risks, warranting the development of tolerable, safe and effective alternatives.
Methods: This randomized controlled trial on adults with CLBP was designed to confirm the superior efficacy and gastrointestinal tolerability of VER-01, a novel, standardized full-spectrum extract from Cannabis sativa DKJ127 L., over opioids. Subjects were randomized (1:1) to receive VER-01 or a range of commercially available opioids. After a 3-week titration, subjects underwent 24 weeks of treatment, followed by 2 weeks of wash-out. The primary endpoint was the relative risk of constipation occurrence after 27 weeks treatment. Secondary endpoints included changes in pain and sleep scores, determined using an 11-point numeric rating scale (NRS), with key secondary endpoints defined for week 27.
Results: A total of 384 individuals were randomized to receive VER-01 (n = 192) or opioids (n = 192). Subjects receiving VER-01 were fourfold less likely to develop constipation than those receiving opioids (relative risk [RR] VER-01/opioids 0.25; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.09-0.69; p = 0.007) and threefold less likely to use laxatives (RR 0.34; 95% CI 0.18-0.65; p < 0.001). Longitudinal analysis revealed that VER-01 was superior to opioids in terms of pain reduction over 6 months of treatment, although differences in secondary endpoints limited to week 27 alone were not significant. Throughout the 6 months of treatment, mean pain reduction was 2.50 NRS points with VER-01 versus 2.16 with opioids (mean difference [MD] 0.34; 95% CI 0.00-0.67; p = 0.048), and sleep improved by 2.52 points with VER-01 versus 2.07 with opioids (MD 0.45; 95% CI 0.11-0.79; p = 0.009). These benefits were particularly pronounced in participants with severe pain, with greater pain reduction (MD 0.58; 95% CI 0.01-1.15) and sleep improvement (MD 0.66, 95% CI 0.05-1.27) compared to opioids.
Conclusions: VER-01 demonstrated superiority over opioids in treating CLBP, both in terms of efficacy and gastrointestinal tolerability.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41028525/
“In summary, this study provides robust evidence that VER-01 offers better tolerability, as well as superior pain relief and sleep quality compared to opioids in patients with CLBP. These findings highlight its potential as a promising new pharmacological option within a multimodal treatment approach that could fundamentally shift the paradigm in the treatment of chronic pain.”
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40122-025-00773-z