Epidiolex in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Related Disorders

February 11, 2026 updated by: University of Chicago

An Open-Label Trial of Epidiolex in the Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Related Disorders: Proof of Concept Study

The primary objective of the proposed study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Epidiolex (cannabidiol) in adults with obsessive compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs). Subjects will be treated in an open-label fashion with Epidiolex for two weeks.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The primary objective of the proposed study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Epidiolex (cannabidiol) in adults with obsessive compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs). OCRDs include obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), trichotillomania, skin picking, tourettes disorder, and hoarding disorders. These disorders appear linked in terms of phenomenology and possibly biology. Fifteen subjects with OCRDs will be treated in an open-label fashion with Epidiolex (2.5 mg/kg twice daily for one week followed by 5mg/kg twice daily) for two total weeks of active treatment. The hypothesis to be tested is that Epidiolex will result in reduction in symptoms of OCRDs (improvement in symptoms will be indicated by lower scores on established outcome measures of OCRDs symptoms that have been used in prior studies).

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
4

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Illinois
      • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60637
        • University of Chicago

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Men and women age 18-65
  • Primary diagnosis of OCD, Hoarding Disorder, Skin Picking Disorder, Trichotillomania, or Tourette Syndrome
  • YBOCS score of at least 18 at baseline
  • Ability to understand and sign the consent form.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Unstable medical illness based on history or clinically significant abnormalities on baseline physical examination or labs
  • Current pregnancy or lactation, or inadequate contraception in women of childbearing potential
  • Subjects considered an immediate suicide risk based on the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS)
  • Past 12-month DSM-5 psychiatric disorder other than OCD
  • Illegal substance use based on urine toxicology screening
  • Initiation of psychological interventions within 3 months of screening
  • Use of any other psychotropic medication
  • Previous treatment with Epidiolex
  • Cognitive impairment that interferes with the capacity to understand and self-administer medication or provide written informed consent

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Epidiolex
Epidiolex (2.5 mg/kg twice daily for one week) followed by Epidiolex (5mg/kg twice daily for two weeks)
Drug: Cannabidiol
Epidiolex oral solution (2.5 mg/kg and 5 mg/kg)
Other Names:
  • Epidiolex

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS)
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 2
The primary outcome measure will be the change from baseline using the Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS). The YBOCS is a 10-item scale that assesses OCD symptoms during the last seven days. The first five items comprise the urge/thought subscale and items 6-10 comprise the behavior subscale.
Baseline to Week 2
NIMH Symptom Severity Scale (for TTM or Skin Picking)
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 2
The primary efficacy measure will be the change in hair pulling or skin picking frequency and urges to pull hair or pick skin for the past week as indicated by change in total score. The entire study lasts 10 weeks. Every two weeks subjects will take the NIMH-TSS. The change in scores from baseline to after 10 weeks will be assessed. The scale itself assesses severity of trichotillomania symptoms. The NIMH-TSS score ranges from 0 to 20, with 0 being no symptoms and 20 being the most severe.
Baseline to Week 2
The Hoarding Rating Scale (HRS)
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 2
The Hoarding Rating Scale is a brief, clinician rated 5-item scale This tool includes 5 questions about clutter, difficulty discarding, excessive acquisition, and the resulting distress and impairment caused by hoarding. Initial studies suggest that a score of 14 or higher on the HRS indicates a probable hoarding problem/Hoarding Disorder diagnosis.
Baseline to Week 2
Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS)
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 2
The Yale Global Tic Severity Scale is a semi-structured clinical interview and currently the gold standard for assessing the severity of tics in children and adults. The YGTSS enables evaluations of number, frequency, intensity, complexity, and interference of motor and phonic tics, covering the past week. Each domain is scored on a 6-point scale (range 0-5) with a separate rating for "overall impairment" regarding the subject's daily life and activities (4). Five sum scores can be created: the total motor tic score (range 0-25), the total phonic tic score (range 0-25), the total tic score (TTS; sum of the total motor tic score plus the total phonic tic score), the overall impairment rating (one item; range 0-50), and the global severity score (GSS; sum of the TTS plus the overall impairment rating, range 0-100). Higher scores reflect worse severity and worse impairment.
Baseline to Week 2

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Clinical Global Impressions- Improvement Scale (CGI-I)
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 2
The entire study for the subject will last 8 weeks. Every week the subject will complete the CGI. The change in scores from baseline to after 8 weeks will be assessed. The scale itself assesses overall disorder severity on a scale from 1 to 7 with 1 being "not at all" and 7 being "among the most severe cases"
Baseline to Week 2
Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D)
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 2
A clinician-administered assessment of depression that will be assessed at all study visits. Higher total scores indicate higher levels of depression, while a score of 0 would indicate no depressive symptoms.
Baseline to Week 2
Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A)
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 2
A clinician-administered assessment of anxiety that will be assessed at all study visits. Changes in scores from baseline to final visit will be assessed. Higher scores indicate higher levels of anxiety, with 0 being no symptoms of anxiety.
Baseline to Week 2
Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS)
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 2
Subjects will complete the SDS at all visits. The change in scores from baseline to study completion will be assessed. The scale itself assesses the level of disability from target disorder with higher scores indicating a more debilitating disorder.
Baseline to Week 2
Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI)
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 2
A self-report assessment of patient perceived quality of life that will be assessed at baseline and week 8. Higher scores indicate a higher quality of life, whereas lower scores indicate a lower quality of life.
Baseline to Week 2

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Chicago

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Jon E Grant, MD, JD, MPH, University of Chicago

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
April 14, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
November 1, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
November 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
July 20, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 20, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
July 27, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
February 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 11, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • IRB21-1147

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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