The first clinical trial looking at the topical use of kānuka oil for eczema relief has found it to be an effective emollient for treatment of moderate-to-severe eczema in adults.
The study involved 80 participants across Aotearoa using a cream randomised to either have 3% of kānuka oil or not for six weeks.
Nick Shortt, lead study author and PhD student at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, says at the conclusion there was a 'significant' difference between the groups' symptom frequency.
"So it seemed to indicate that the Kānuka oil was having some effect and reducing the frequency of eczema symptoms," he says.
Life-long eczema sufferer Kylie Rameka (Tūwharetoa, Tainui) says she found the kānuka oil based-cream one of the most effective treatments she's used.
"It just keeps your hands more moist. With eczema your hands are just always dry and flaking and stuff. And honestly, yeah, it just kept it nice and moist."
Rameka says she often feels as though her eczema will never go away but, after the six-week trial where she applied the cream twice daily, she began to see a difference.
"Honestly, it almost looks normal. Since using the cream, my hands look normal like o the other parts of my body that don't have eczema."
Since the trial ended she has had to go back to regular treatment, prescribed by her doctor, and says her condition is beginning to "flare up" again.
Next steps
The trial was a partnership between MRINZ, Tai Rāwhiti-based Hikurangi Bioactives and TRG Natural Pharmaceuticals in Tauranga, which started in 2015. Manu Caddie of Hikurangi Bioactives, says the positive result is simply another step in the process but one that gives hope that the product could find its way onto shelves.
"We've still got to prove there's a market demand for the product.
"TRG Pharmaceuticals are in negotiations with a range of international companies that are interested. They're very excited about the results from the study. But we still want to land a deal.
"Once that deal is done, or getting close to being done, that will give us the confidence to invest in infrastructure and facilities to extract the oil and deploy harvesting crews."
Rameka is hoping the cream can be made available and has already let the team behind the trial know she is ready for it to come on the market.
"I would personally buy it after my experience with it, and I'd recommend it to other whānau out there and my other whānau here who have eczema, because I found it really, really good."
Hopes rise in Tai Rāwhiti
The positive result also brings renewed excitement about the future economic prospects for Tai Rāwhiti where the kānuka oil used in the trial was sourced. Much of the forestry industry on the East Coast is pine trees, with 80% of the logs destined for the Chinese market.
Caddie says if the eczema product, as well as other projects using kānuka currently under investigation, should prove viable, it could pave the way for another income stream for the region.
"If something happens to the China relationship, the region's really stuffed. So we desperately need to urgently diversify the economy in high-value products. And that's why we got into this sort of opportunity," he says.
Discussions are also underway with iwi and hapū in other regions who could help produce kānuka should demand to be such that Te Tai Rāwhiti cannot meet.
While Caddie hopes an agreement with international companies can be reached within the next year, that will allow production to ramp up, and bring relief to eczema patients.
Hikurangi Bioactives Limited Partnership is a joint venture vehicle with opportunities for co-investors to support both early stage research and clinical trials with significant growth potential and pipelines to well established distribution channels.
The partnership has three natural health products in independent clinical trials and five more products under development. Two of its current projects focus on Kīna and Kānuka extracts.
Caddie and Hikurangi have also been involved in the company that went on to be listed as Rua, which produces medicinal cannabis products from the East Coast.
