CANNABIS TECHNOLOGIES ANNOUNCES SECOND THERAPY — CTI-091
CANNABIS TECHNOLOGIES ANNOUNCES SECOND THERAPY — CTI-091
Cannabis Technologies Inc. has developed a therapy containing a proprietary mixture of cannabinoids and non-cannabis-based active ingredients, CTI-091, for the relief of joint pain and swelling associated with arthritis and joint disease. Preliminary laboratory studies showed CTI-091 suppresses the human macrophage interleukin-6, a major biomarker of inflammation, indicating strong scientific evidence that cannabis extracts reverse the disease progression.
CTI-091 is designed to enhance retention and absorption of the key ingredients around the target site and designed for the relief of joint pain and swelling.
Currently the formulation is in preclinical stage of development. The company is also working to improve the delivery system to increase efficacy. It is expecting to go to initiate clinical phase 1 trials upon completion of these steps.
Craig Schneider, Cannabis Technologies president and chief executive officer, said: “We are extremely pleased to announce a second therapy in our expanding product pipeline. The pain and arthritis therapy takes our company to the next stage of development, reinforcing the proof of concept of our cannabinoid drug design platform. This platform is designed to effectively identify and fast-track new drug therapies. The company plans to have numerous therapies over the next 12 months within the product pipeline focusing on other areas like metabolic diseases (obesity and diabetes), orphan diseases (Huntington’s and epilepsy) as well as cancer and angiogenesis.”
Pain and arthritis market
More than 46 million Americans have arthritis or a related disease, and some experts estimate the global market for arthritis drugs brings as much as $35-billion a year in profits. The many different types of drugs used to treat arthritis and its accompanying pain include over-the-counter and prescription-only drugs, with delivery methods of injections, infusions, patches and topical agents.
We seek Safe Harbor.
- Published in Blog
If Big Pharma Isn’t Nervous, It Should Be; Early Stage Cannabis Technologies…Potentially the Next GW Pharma
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 31, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Deep in the brain, buried within the central nervous system as well as lymphatic tissues and organs throughout the body are cannabinoid receptors; patiently waiting to help address a myriad of diseases. With the advent of cannabis research and therapy development many patients will likely trigger them very soon.
Two known receptors in the Endocannabinoid system are CB1 and CB2. There is mounting evidence that there are many more. Simply put, this system of receptors is involved in dealing with a variety of physiological processes including appetite, pain-sensation, mood and memory.
Activating these receptors by introducing the appropriate drug based on a specific formula of cannabis, primarily utilizing Cannabidiol (CBD) and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) has already shown remarkable potential efficacy, albeit somewhat anecdotal, in the treatment of a host of afflictions ranging from cancer to epilepsy, glaucoma, MS, Tourette’s and even eczema.
To date there have been approximately 100 cannabinoids identified; each with the potential to be an integral component of a lower cost treatment; countering the expensive and frequently toxic Big Pharma drugs and therapies.
The current level of research and development of cannabis therapies is analogous to where the Internet was in the mid 1990’s. What is known is that the introduction of targeted phytocannabinoid formulations, such as those with CBD and THC, signal the body to make more endocannabinoids and open more cannabinoid receptors enhancing the body’s ability to fight pain and disease.
“At this point, we don’t actually know how many therapies are possible utilizing phytocompounds, but we suspect hundreds, if not thousands,” stated Craig Schneider, President and CEO of Cannabis Technologies (CAN: CSE, CANLF: OTCQB). “To that end, CAN has developed a proprietary Cannabinoid Drug Design Platform (CDP) to identify new bioactive compounds within the cannabis plant that interact with certain genes responsible for specific diseases.”
The poster stock in this Life Sciences sector is GW Pharmaceutical. The Company IPO’d at $8.90 in May 2013 and traded as high as $107 in 2014. When investors compare the metrics of peers GWPH and CAN, the case for the latter appears compelling.
While it would be easy to draw the usual David and Goliath analogy, in this case the participants, while competitors are really more peers, working toward the same therapeutic goals. And, as a result of the focused CDP development process, cannabis therapies can be on the market in 4-6 years versus 10-15 years as is the norm through the Big Pharma pathway.
GW currently trades at $87 has a market cap of $1.5 billion and had trailing twelve-month (ttm) revenues of $50 million, is virtually debt free and has approximately $163 million in cash. Cannabis Technologies trades at $0.37 is pre-revenue and has a market cap of $12 million with roughly $600k in cash. CAN shares have a 2014 high of $0.71 and low of $0.33.
GWPH market cap is 30 times revenue. Translating that multiple to eventual revenues to early stage CAN evidences compelling growth potential.
GWPH, as CAN, decided early on to dedicate R&D to therapy development and plant their respective flags firmly in Life Science space instead of the class of ‘Medical Marijuana’ companies with all the different connotations.
These companies are involved in serious and life saving science. There are others as well, including AbbVie, which makes the FDA approved chemotherapy nausea treatment Marinol, which is a synthetic formulation of THC. Valeant Pharmaceuticals produces Cesamet, which is a like treatment. The best known to investors is likely GW’s vapor delivered Sativex, used currently in 25 countries outside the US for treatment of the spasticity associated with MS. Sativex is currently in clinical trials for approval as a treatment of cancer pain.
CAN’s Schneider notes: “The media has categorized CAN as an early-stage GW Pharma, a comparison we welcome. We are currently entering Phase 1 trials for our glaucoma treatment CTI-085, which showed great therapeutic promise in pre-clinical trials relieving the ocular pressure associated. This initial therapy is much more, being a proof of concept of the ability of our CDP to identify specifically engineered treatments to deal with many debilitating and deadly diseases.”
For context, the $12 billion ocular disease market includes $5.7 billion for glaucoma.
Other drugs in development include GW’s Epidolex for the treatment of rare diseases as well as other compounds in clinical trials for treatment of autoimmune, diabetes and schizophrenia.
The key to therapy going forward is this specific engineering and the ability to replicate the compound for quality and consistency. Sativex is basically 50{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} CBD and 50{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} THC. The CBD component has the dual task of being the active ingredient as well as damping down the psychotropic effects of the THC. CBD comes from the hemp plant and has only trace THC.
As new cannabis drugs develop, individual formulations will be more therapy specific, have non-cannabis ingredients added and undergo stringent quality and consistency controls.
Big Pharma has a right to be nervous. Side effects from cannabis therapies are virtually non-existent, development costs are extremely low by comparison–$5 billion on average per Big Pharma drug—and companies like CAN are confident that as it progresses it can develop therapies in a period of 60-90 days instead of decades.
Part of the strategic engineering is not just how much of this and that goes into a compound. The key is to develop plants that produce the right material for each formulation. It is not inconceivable that if there were 500 cannabis therapies, there would be 500 different strains of cannabis plant as ‘feed stock’.
The label of Medical Marijuana companies, when referring to enterprises such as GW, CAN, AbbVie and Valeant, are the exception to what appears to be a wild west show at times. These are serious life science companies. To include them with the plethora of Medical Marijuana initiatives, whether junior mining companies looking for a new direction or those that feel simply growing generic marijuana is a sound business plan, many will likely fail or be swallowed.
Like the Internet of old where there are few survivors today from that era, the cannabis space will eventually be littered with casualties as it builds out. What is not in dispute, is that the efficacy of cannabis appears undeniable and therapy development will continue and likely speed up, building on early successes. GW and CAN will likely be among those to grow and prosper; a good thing for both shareholders and, more importantly, those millions of patients suffering from particularly nasty diseases and conditions.
Innovative science requires scientists. Rounding out CEO Craig Schneider’s 20 years of capital market and biopharmaceutical experience CAN has two world-class scientists. Dr. Sazzad Hossain Ph.D, M.Sc., Chief Science Officer, brings two decades of experience in new drug discovery and natural health product development. His practical experience includes senior scientist at the NRCC bringing and has generated over $500 million in revenue from therapies he has been involved in developing from the discovery to commercialization.
Key as well is the Company’s breeding, genetics and cultivation division led by Dr. Hyder Khoja, Ph.D., M.Sc., A.Ag. who brings 17 years of extensive research and business provenance in life sciences and business services.
Management has spoken frequently about addressing larger therapy markets including cancer, metabolic diseases and pain and inflammation. On par with GW, CAN has plans to produce medicines in-house initiated by its CDP technology, breeding and cultivation division and proprietary formula engineering. Even at this early stage, the Company is keenly aware of the need for not just the development of therapies but the ability to replicate each with strict quality and consistency.
Further adding to shareholder value is a patent pending for CAN’s CDP and a plan to protect IP by filing patents as therapies are developed.
If you are considering investing in the cannabis space, buy the science. Hype has a very short shelf life.
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CONTACT: Cannabis Technologies #350-409 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC Canada, V6C 1T2 Tel: 604.669.7207 Fax: 604.683.2506 info@cannabis-tech.com
- Published in Life Sciences, Medical Marijuana
New Research Shows How Marijuana Compound Can Reduce Tumor Growth In Cancer Patients
Scientists have long known that compounds derived from marijuana have some cancer fighting properties, but a recent discovery demonstrates how exactly one compound may fight tumors.
Published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the research reveals two previously unknown “signaling platforms” in cells that allow THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis known for producing the “high” sensation, to shrink some cancerous tumors.
“THC, the major active component of marijuana, has anti-cancer properties,” Dr. Peter McCormick, a researcher from University of East Anglia in England and co-author of the study, said in a statement. “This compound is known to act through a specific family of cell receptors called cannabinoid receptors. However, it was unclear which of these receptors were responsible for the anti-tumor effects of THC.”
When the researchers applied THC to tumors induced in mice using human breast cancer cells, the interaction between two cannabinoid cell receptors — CB2 and GPR55 — were responsible for THC’s anti-tumor benefits.
“Our findings help explain some of the well-known but still poorly understood effects of THC at low and high doses on tumor growth,” McCormick added. He emphasized in an email to The Huffington Post that dosage is critical to outcome, since the wrong protocol can sometimes increase tumor growth, he said.
“So, the ideal would be either the purified THC in an effective dose provided by a health care provider to reduce the known cognitive side effects and still deliver the appropriate reduction in tumor growth, or a synthetic homolog that provides the same effects,” McCormack said. He added that the research team didn’t screen all tumors and that some types may not respond to this treatment if they do not have compatible receptors expressed.
The endocannabinoid (EC) system is a communications network in the brain and body that is involved in a number of physiological processes that affect a person’s feelings, motor skills and memory. The EC system is responsive to the body’s naturally-occurring endocannabinoids as well as the cannabinoids found in marijuana, like THC. And scientists have found that the CB2 receptor specifically is sensitive to the therapeutic properties of marijuana-based compounds.
This isn’t the first time scientists have found that marijuana can be effective at fighting cancer. Previous studies have found that THC cuts tumor growth in lung cancer in half and also prohibited the cancer from spreading. THC has also been shown to induce death in brain cancer cells.
But THC is just one of many cannabinoids found in marijuana. Others, like CBD, a non-toxic, non-psychoactive chemical compound in the cannabis plant, has also shown promise in the battle against cancer. Researchers in California found that CBD could stop metastasis in many kinds of aggressive cancer.
In the United Kingdom, a team of scientists found that six different purified cannabinoids — CBD (Cannabidiol), CBDA (Cannabidiolic acid), CBG (Cannbigerol), CBGA (Cannabigerolic acid), CBGV (Cannabigevarin) and CBGVA (Cannabigevaric acid) — showed a wide range of therapeutic qualities that “target and switch off” pathways that allow cancers to grow.
A number of studies in recent years have demonstrated the medical potential of pot beyond cancer treatment. Purified forms of cannabis has been tied to better blood sugar control, and may help slow the spread of HIV. Legalization of the plant for medical purposes may even lead to lower suicide rates.
Currently, the federal government classifies the plant as one of the “most dangerous” substances alongside heroin and LSD with “no currently accepted medical use.”
McCormack told HuffPost that the researchers are moving toward clinical trials but that it would be at least five years before those would begin.
- Published in Blog
Marijuana, now officially more expensive then gold
Shatter hash and other similar concentrates make up one of the fastest-growing facets of Colorado’s bustling marijuana industry — but shatter, which can be used for dabbing, is also still quite controversial.
Shatter can be dangerous to produce, as many have learned after blowing up their garages or hotel rooms. And it’s also an incredibly potent method of ingesting THC — hardly ideal for the inexperienced pot connoisseur.
Just how popular is shatter?
“At this point gold costs $43.50 a gram,” said Tucker Eldridge, master grower at Nature’s Herbs & Wellness, “and shatter costs $40 a gram off the shelf for medical patients. You add another 30{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} tax to that, and it ends up costing more than gold.”
Shatter can sell recreationally for $60-$90 a gram, Eldridge said in the above video, by Denver Post photographer Joe Amon.
So why do some prefer shatter to flower or edibles?
“If you’re looking for something that’s significantly more potent, has significantly less adulterant plant matter, which is what combusts and produces carcinogens, then shatter hash is going to be more your cup of tea,” Eldridge said. “If you’re not looking for something that’s that potent it can be almost psychoactive.”
- Published in Blog
46 Reasons why Cannabis Technologies (CAN) will Succeed
Cannabis Technologies has begun trading as InMed Pharmaceuticals (C.IN) since the writing of this article.
1) Investing in biotech can be extremely challenging. There is always a chance that someone will come out with a better product. Typically, it takes a decade or more to approval, followed by commercialization. It usuallycosts tens of millions, to billions of dollars per drug. This can be highly dilutive to a small startup.
2) What if one company had a proprietary cookie cutter system targeting a dozen diseases quicker, cheaper and more effective? I am not sure what Cannabis Technologies will be called in a year from now. I think it will have a new name… perhaps GW Pharmaceuticals or Eli Lily? Or Novartis?
3) Dr. Hossain was chiefly responsible for a $157 million deal with Novartis a decade ago. There was also a $376 million deal with Teva in 2012 based on one of his discoveries. More on that later.
4) Dr. Tarek Mansour (Pfizer) was responsible for multiple FDA approved drugs, where the market value exceeded $1 billion. (Zeffix, Troxatyl, Bosulif, Neratinib and PFE384)
5) The big question is...how many therapy product launches, and strategic partnerships will it take before Big Pharma catches on?
6) The amplitude of possibilities dictates that Cannabis Technologies will one day be a dominant player in the prescription cannabinoid medicine market.
7) Many people now know there are at least 85 different cannabinoids isolated from cannabis exhibiting various effects that could prove therapeutic.
8) They also know that cannabidiol (CBD) alone has shown therapeutic benefits to at least 16 diseases.
9) CAN will take advantage of Strain differences to develop drugs for specific diseases, including:
Glaucoma, Inflammation/Pain/Arthritis, Huntington’s, Epilepsy, Diabetes, Obesity, Cancer & Angiogenesis
10) CAN’s proprietary Cannabinoid Drug Design Platform (“CDP”) allows computer science, statistics, mathematics and engineering to study biological data and processes from the cannabis plant which can be targeted to develop therapies for specific diseases and conditions.
11) What will CAN’s CDP be worth to a company that wants to compete with GWPH…or a better question..what would it be worth to GWPH?
12) The main active ingredients in this are the cannabinoids THC and CBD, but other pharmacologically active cannabinoids are also present and are being investigated.
13) This Platform Technology, combined with CAN’s world renowned scientific team, will enable the company to discover therapies based on proven genomics and unique chemical fingerprints that specific cellular processes leave behind.
14) They will do this both quickly and effectively, with very little money, by outsourcing patented products that are ready for clinical trials and allow a company like Novartis (for example) to absorb all the costs through to commercialization. CAN will retain a fair and reasonable interest that may generate substantial revenue.
Track Record
Dr. Hossain’s successful financial deals based on his drug discoveries over the last 15 years include:
15) 2004: Xenon, Novartis Enter $157M Deal For Obesity Compounds
16) 2006: Xenon and Takeda Announce $75M Agreement To Develop and Commercialize XEN401 for Pain
17) 2006: Xenon Enters Into Anemia Collaboration With Roche ($7 Million for Equity, and $44 Million From Research Funding)
18) 2012: Teva inks $376M deal on Xenon pain program
19) 2009: YM Biosciences Collaboration with the National Research Council of Canada’s Biotechnology Research Institute (NRC-BRI) yielded novel anticancer antibodies that may be safer than similar drugs sold by Genentech/Roche. (another partnership resulted in the production of new breast cancer drug candidates.)
20) 2009: NRC-BRI granted Alethia Biotherapeutics exclusive, worldwide diagnostic rights to a peptide that specifically binds to tumor-associated clusterin in cancer patients.
Who should CAN target?
21) GW Pharmaceuticals has one the broadest clinical pipelines of any company in the marijuana industry…so will CAN.
22) Even though GW may be suffering the typical challenges that all biopharma companies have to endure, with costs far outstripping revenues, they had no problem raising $169.8 million last month.
23) Over 30 years ago, two young men made their way to Vancouver from Seattle to raise money for their software company, and were unfortunately turned down. Their names were Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Very few understood what they had.
24) I think CAN is in the same position today, however, that is changing with Chris Parry writing one of the first articles. Cancer survivor and canabis acdvocate Cheryl Shuman recently endorsed Cannabis Technologies as well.
25) If the billionaire activists want Marijuana to be legalized they most likely would want to facilitate the fast tracking of several revolutionary therapies that will indeed improve the lives of the millions of sufferers around the world.
26) George Soros has spent at least $80 million on the legalization effort since 1994.
27) The late Peter B. Lewis, channeled more than $40 million to influence local debates.
28) The two billionaires’ funding has been unmatched by anyone.
29) Other wealthy activists include: Google billionaire Paul Buchheit, Facebook forefathers Sean Parker and Dustin Moskovitz, and Men’s Wearhouse founder George Zimmer.
30) As of March 31, GWPH had 75 Institutional Holders (sooner or later, they will know about CAN)
31) Analyst Firms Making GWPH Recommendations: Bank of America, Cowen, Piper Jaffray, Leerink Swann, and Morgan Stanley.
Conclusion Check List:
32) World renowned scientific team with multidisciplinary expertise? Check.
33) CSO who has a track record that developed several drugs over 15 years, generating over $500m in revenues? Check
34) Global organizations, governments, and big pharma companies that have previously benefitted from the teams research? Check.
35) Proprietary Cannabinoid Drug Design Platform? Check.
36) Tools to isolate and identify chemical compounds both quickly and effectively? Check.
37) In-house Breeding, Genetics and Cultivation division? Check.
38) Capable of developing compounds for therapies in months rather than years? Check.
39) Target specific diseases and conditions? Check.
40) Outsource early-stage research and trials to conserve capital? Check.
41) Fast Forward through Phase I, Phase II & Phase III quickly and inexpensively compared to traditional Pharma? Check
42) Competitive edge from companies that rely on third-parties to manufacture their treatments? Check
43) Fully-integrated operations to lower costs and increase quality? Check
44) Capable of commercializing therapies in a 1/3 the time of traditional drug development? Check.
45) Anaglous company with a $1.5b market cap? Check
46) Developing medicines for:
– Glaucoma
– Pain and Inflammation
– Orphan Diseases
– Metabolic Disease (Obesity, Diabetes)
– Cancers and Metabolic Diseases? Check.
Dr. Sazzad Hossain, Ph.D., M.Sc.
Chief Scientific Officer
– 20 years of academic and industrial experience in new drug discovery, natural health product development
– Group Leader and Senior Scientist at Biotechnology Research Institute of National Research Council Canada, Government of Canada’s prime biotechnology research organization where he set up pharmacology laboratory to evaluate safety and efficacy of new drugs under development in the areas of cancer, cardiovascular and ocular diseases.
Dr. Tarek S. Mansour, Ph.D., M.Sc.
Scientific Advisor
– Dr. Mansour was responsible for transition of staff and projects to the Pfizer pipeline
-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sabila Biosciences LLC, New York
– Under his leadership, several compounds have progressed to various stages of clinical evaluation including FDA approvals and late stage development including:Zeffix, Troxatyl, Bosulif, Neratinib and PFE384.
Dr. Hyder A. Khoja, Ph.D., M.Sc., A.Ag.
Director of Botanical Research and Cultivation
– 17 years of extensive experience in a broad range of life sciences and business services with strong leadership combined with functional expertise and experience in general business management
– Industry experience spans from initiation, operation, and contribution towards developing several research and business proposals in the fields of Agriculture-Food Security, Food Safety & Sovereignty, Alternative energy, Renewable resources, Biofuels, Nutraceutical, Hydroponics, Agriculture & Land use management and Technology transfer
– Presented his work both in at federal government and academic institutions with authorship in over 18 peer-reviewed papers, primarily in genomics, plant physiology, and alternative energy.
–His work was also recognized and appeared in United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Environment and Natural Resources Management as a working paper for Algae-based Biofuels
Craig Schneider
One of Craig’s first companies that he worked for was Ultra Petroleum. The stock dropped from .95 to .45 before blasting through the stratosphere to a stunning pre split price of close to $200. Put another way, the market cap rose from around $3 million to close to $3 Billion!
Loyal investors were rewarded once again in 2006, as he was the cofounder of Magnum Uranium, which was taken over by Energy Fuels in 2009. Shareholders were once again exposed to another potential 1000{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} gain by 2011.
Read more at http://www.stockhouse.com/companies/bullboard/c.can/cannabis-technologies-inc#2FOuXY6qmBPTVqry.99
- Published in Medical Marijuana
Active Component Of Marijuana Has Anti-cancer Effects, Study Suggests
Guillermo Velasco and colleagues, at Complutense University, Spain, have provided evidence that suggests that cannabinoids such as the main active component of marijuana (THC) have anticancer effects on human brain cancer cells.
In the study, THC was found to induce the death of various human brain cancer cell lines and primary cultured human brain cancer cells by a process known as autophagy.
Consistent with the in vitro data, administration of THC to mice with human tumors decreased tumor growth and induced the tumor cells to undergo autophagy. As analysis of tumors from two patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (a highly aggressive brain tumor) receiving intracranial THC administration showed signs of autophagy, the authors suggest that cannabinoid administration may provide a new approach to targeting human cancers.
Cannabinoid action induces autophagy-mediated cell death through stimulation of ER stress in human glioma cells
Story Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by Journal of Clinical Investigation. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
- Published in Medical Marijuana