A German drug company claims to have produced the first non-addictive and clinically proven painkiller based on the cannabis plant.

The drug, developed under the codename VER-01, is said to have been found effective in a final-stage clinical trial that recruited 800 people.

It was tested on patients suffering from chronic lower back pain, the most common form of chronic pain globally. Half were given the experimental medicine and half received a placebo. Those who got the real treatment reported less pain and better sleep, its developer said.

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The results, if verified, will boost hopes that it could provide an alternative to highly addictive opioid painkillers.

According to the British Pain Society, about 28 million adults in the UK are living with pain that has lasted for three months or longer. Despite the risk of patients becoming dependent on opioids, prescriptions for them more than doubled between 1998 and 2018, according to NHS figures.

Vertanical, the company behind the new drug, said that it had begun discussions with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to request regulatory approval in Britain.

“VER-01 reduces pain without creating dependency or having an abuse potential,” Clemens Fischer, its chief executive, said. “It has the full potential to replace opiates as it’s more effective. It’s a real alternative for chronic patients — the first one.”

The trial results have been submitted to The Lancet, the medical journal, which is reviewing them, he said.

The drug is what’s known as a “full spectrum” extract, containing the full range of compounds found in a selected variety of the cannabis plant.

That includes THC, the substance that gets users high when they smoke cannabis. Fischer said that the trials had found no evidence of VER-01 users becoming intoxicated, however, because the levels of THC in their system were too low.

That said, he added that 20-25 per cent of patients did “feel a bit dizzy” for a couple of weeks after starting the medication.

There was no evidence of other side-effects commonly associated with cannabis, such as changes to appetite. “We were looking very carefully, because that’s what we hear from cannabis smokers — that the appetite increases as well their weight. But we haven’t seen any increase in weight,” Fischer said.

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He added: “Pain patients around the world are trapped in a vicious cycle of pain, insomnia, limited mobility, and depression. VER-01 has the potential to successfully break this cycle.”

The company has applied for regulatory approval in Europe. If it is granted, the drug will be sold under the brand name Exilby. Patients would take it as drops.

Matthias Karst, professor of pain medicine at Hanover Medical School, said the drug could mark “a significant advancement in the pharmacological treatment of chronic lower back pain”.

He added: “The study results demonstrate a significant reduction in pain. Additionally, there is a marked improvement in sleep quality and physical function, which together help minimise the risk of depression, a common comorbidity of chronic pain.”