In 2012, mental health was the second largest US drug class for spending and in 2011, anti-psychotics and antidepressants accounted for $29.2bn in US sales, with over 264 million prescriptions written for antidepressant medication.
Earlier studies show that 63% of people who take antidepressants experience at least one side effect and 30- 45% of people fail to respond to antidepressant treatments.
PuraMed BioScience CEO Russ Mitchell said that the company believes that with the technologies it has now, it can use hemp-derived compounds to build safer, more effective, and faster-acting treatments for a number of mental health conditions.
"PuraMed’s long history of building clinically effective herbal medicines truly sets us apart from the majority of other businesses entering the cannabis market," Mitchell said.
"We believe we can be a leader in the development of a new generation of natural medicines that incorporate cannabinoids, which can deliver a superior level of efficacy without the severe side effects associated with current prescription drugs.
"We looked at the mental health aspect of development due to our migraine initiative with veterans who are also suffering with the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)."
According to the company, the most common treatments for PTSD preclude use of commonly prescribed migraine treatments and it is a major problem for active-duty military and also its veterans.
Movement into development of a mental health formulation aligns with the company’s efforts to provide its service men and women with safer and more effective options which can improve their quality of life.