Having previously partnered with the University of Calgary, Sundial Growers has now entered a three-year memorandum of understanding with the University of Saskatchewan.

“Sundial, from day one, has been committed to becoming a leader in proving out medical cannabis as an option for doctors to prescribe, so we have moved forward in a partnership with both (universities) to pursue that,” said Geoff Thompson, president of Sundial.

“This is a Canadian initiative that will become an international initiative, because the rest of the world is in the medical cannabis space. Mostly, North America is a THC-based, adult-use market, where the rest of the world is a CBD-based, medical market. “This is the launching point in Canada to prove out the efficacy of cannabis around the world.”

At two Saskatoon care facilities, clinical trials will begin looking at the efficacy of cannabis as a treatment for dementia.

The randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded dose-escalation study will aim to examine the degree to which patients can tolerate side-effects, dosage and any adverse effects of dose escalation.

“Medical research has been happening around the world on cannabis and most of the research has not gone anywhere because cannabis has been a schedule 1 drug for a long time,” said Thompson, referring to its status as a non-medicinal substance in the U.S. drug classification system.

“The broader win here is we are trying to prove to medical associations, pharmacy associations and insurance companies around the world that medical cannabis does work and it will make a cause of influence on specific ailments.”

The university said it chose dementia as an area of focus due to its serious national and international concern.

Secondary outcomes of the study include learning more about the impact of cannabis on patient anxiety, aggression, sleep, pain, cognitive stabilization, and nutrition when it is used as a treatment option for dementia.

In July, Sundial announced it was partnering with the University of Calgary to conduct clinical studies on cannabis.

The company also has a partnership with a researcher at the University of Lethbridge, where cannabis’ anti-cancer properties and its impact on inflammation will be studied.