Enhancing recovery in early schizophrenia by randomized controlled add-on of cannabidiol to an individualized antipsychotic treatment

Despite recent advances, the treatment of schizophrenic psychoses remains a considerable challenge when remission is the goal. Although acute psychotic symptoms respond quite well to current antipsychotics, their limited effects on negative symptoms and cognitive decline as well as their side-effect profile are still problematic regarding full recovery of social and vocational performance and integration for a substantial number of patients. The ESPRIT research network is focussed on early stages of psychosis and will examine the therapeutic potential of cannabidol as an add-on treatment in post-acute schizophrenia. In this double blind randomized clinical trial, longer-term efficacy and safety of the compound will be investigated. Cannabidiol acts by modulating the function of the endocannabinoid system. Thereby, it represents a potentially new class of antipsychotic compounds, hopefully effective to improve recovery of schizophrenic patients.