(Alliance News) - Ananda Developments PLC on Wednesday said its wholly-owned subsidiary MRX Medical Ltd has filed a fifth patent application with the UK government for its new cannabinoid formulation known as MRX2T.

The London-based pharmaceutical company developing cannabinoid-based medicines for chronic pain conditions said MRX2T is based on MRX's patent pending MRX2 cannabidiol formulation, with the addition of tetrahydrocannabinol.

Ananda said the formulation has been developed for use in randomised controlled trials and that the company looks forward to updating shareholders in "due course".

The application to the Intellectual Property Office is in addition to four previous applications, Ananda said, which cover the proprietary formulation methodology and three different cannabinoid formulations known as MRX1, MRX2 and MRX3.

Ananda said MRX1 will be used as the investigational medicinal product in two phase 2 randomised controlled trials being conducted by the University of Edinburgh, with one trial investigating the effect of CBD on pain associated with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy and the other investigating the effect of cannabidiol on pain associated with endometriosis.

"We are building Ananda's intellectual property with the application for a fifth patent covering an oil formulation containing THC as well as CBD. We are hopeful this oil will be used in randomised controlled trials and look forward to bringing shareholders an update on this as soon as possible," said Ananda Chief Executive Officer Melissa Sturgess.

Shares in Ananda last traded at 0.27 pence each on AQSE in London on Tuesday afternoon.

On Wednesday last week, Ananda signed a memorandum of understanding alongside its wholly-owned subsidiary DJT Plants Ltd with Nottingham Trent University to pursue third-party grant funding.

The funding will help to progress DJT's medical cannabis breeding programme and its low carbon medical cannabis cultivation and manufacturing, via a strategic partnership and the establishment of a "Cannabinoid Centre of Excellence" at Nottingham.

By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News senior reporter

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