Vertanical, a Munich-based pharmaceutical company, is developing a cannabinoid-based medicine aimed at treating chronic pain without the addictive risks of opioids. The drug, called Ver-01, delivers cannabinoids like THC at levels low enough to avoid intoxication, while still offering meaningful pain relief.
If approved, Ver-01 won’t be sold in dispensaries. Instead, founder Dr. Clemens Fischer, a physician-turned-entrepreneur, hopes it will become the first cannabis-derived painkiller prescribed by doctors and reimbursed by insurers. “I usually end up with the boring things no one wants to do,” says Fischer, who left clinical medicine two decades ago to build a pharmaceutical empire under his Futrue Group holding company.
Since founding Vertanical in 2017 with partner Madlena Hohlefelder, Fischer has invested more than $250 million of his own fortune. The company operates a cultivation site and pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Denmark, where it developed its proprietary cannabis strain DKJ-127 for chronic pain. Clinical trials in Germany have shown Ver-01 to be more effective than opioids, with no evidence of addiction. Regulators in Germany and Austria are expected to rule on its approval later this year.
The push comes amid mounting pressure to find opioid alternatives. In the U.S. alone, opioid overdoses killed more than 80,000 people last year, and prescriptions remain a $20 billion annual market. The FDA recently announced plans to fast-track non-opioid pain treatments. Vertanical hopes to launch Phase III U.S. trials by 2026, setting the stage for eventual FDA review.
Industry experts are cautiously optimistic. Dr. Jonathann Kuo, a New York pain management specialist not involved with Vertanical, says cannabis-based drugs hold promise. “The holy grail is a substance that provides pain relief without physical dependency,” he said. “Cannabis can make headway in this.”
For Fischer, who has built and sold multiple supplement and drug companies worth hundreds of millions, the ambition is clear: a safer, cannabis-based alternative to opioids with blockbuster potential. “If you have a drug which shows it is more efficacious and has fewer side effects, you can get a significant share of this market,” he said.
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