Canadian Companies Have Chance to Dominate Global Medical Cannabis Market.
Momentum Public Relations
Blog: March 21 2018
Tetra Bio-Pharma Receives FDA Orphan Drug Status for PPP001
Canadian Companies Have Chance to Dominate Global Medical Cannabis Market.
Grand View Research has predicted that the global medical marijuana market will reach US$55.8 billion by 2025.
When licensed medical marijuana producers first began to list on the Canadian stock exchanges they received sky high valuations.
Some analysts and producers looked beyond the domestic market and wondered if the legalization of marijuana in Canada would allow Canadian marijuana growers to take a dominant position in the global market as marijuana legalization rolled out around the world.
It now looks as if Canada stands a good chance to become a global leader in the development of cannabinoid-based drugs and the regulatory approvals that ensure their safety and efficacy.
The cannabinoid-based drug market is going to be huge. Grand View Research has predicted that the global medical marijuana market will reach US$55.8 billion by 2025.
A Bloomberg News story published in the Financial Post on December 28, 2017 explains why Canadian medical cannabis producers and drug companies are set to move onto the global stage.
The established use of medical cannabis in Canada and the legalization of recreational marijuana both play a part in this.
Canopy Growth CEO Bruce Linton was quoted in the story as saying that the theme for 2018 will be the globalization of medical cannabis. One of Canada’s first medical marijuana producers, Canopy already ships to Germany and has partnerships with companies in Australia, Spain and Jamaica.
In effect, Canada has first mover status on the international market and if domestic producers do the right things they stand a good chance of dominating the global market.
While medical cannabis is now being prescribed in a variety of jurisdictions, it is only being prescribed because of anecdotal evidence. There is no scientific proof that medical cannabis-based therapeutic treatments work. The pharmaceutical companies that succeed in providing regulatory approval backed by hard science stand to profit with a very large market share.
Canada is leading the way because while one might assume that research powerhouse the United States would be at the head of the line, American research is hamstrung by the fact that while legal in many states, it is not legal at the American federal level. This means that federal research funding is not available.
Against that backdrop Canadian biopharmaceutical research and development company Tetra Bio-Pharma, dedicated to becoming the first to prove the safety and efficacy of cannabis-based drugs, has received funding from the National Science and Research Council of Canada.
The company has already started a Phase 3 clinical study designed to prove the safety and efficacy of its flagship product, smokable PPP001, designed as a therapeutic treatment for chronic and cancer pain. The company believes that PPP001 will be on the market no later than 2019.
Canada’s ability to lead the international pack when it comes to the development of cannabis-based therapeutic drugs can be illustrated by two recent developments.
On March 14, 2018 Tetra Bio-Pharma announced that it had received “Orphan Drug Status” for PPP001, for the treatment of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome by the American FDA.
Orphan drug status is a designation used to encourage research into drugs for the treatment of rare diseases that affect only a small percentage of the population, 200,000. It provides a seven year marketing exclusivity for the orphan drug.
Tetra Bio-Pharma is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to providing the science that will prove that medical cannabis-based drugs are safe and actually work.
Unless a dark horse dramatically emerges, Tetra Bio-Pharma will also be the first biopharmaceutical to be granted Health Canada and FDA approvals, which in return will grant the approved drugs a Drug Identification Number, DIN. DIN numbers allow the drug to be prescribed by doctors, sold by pharmacies and covered by insurance plans.
DIN numbers are the Holy Grail in pharmaceutical research. Once you have them your products are legal to market. Without a DIN number they can’t be sold.
Tetra has a pipeline of cannabis-based drugs under development and has recently created a veterinary division to create cannabis-based drugs for the lucrative cat and dog market.
The company has also just announced its first European foray with partner PS Innovations. PS Innovations manufactures Tetra’s trademarked RX Princeps Inhalation Device. Tetra announced on March 6, 2018 that PS Innovations will apply for CE Marking, a process that guaranties the product conforms to European regulations and can be sold in the European Economic Area where it will be listed as a Class 1 Medical Device.
Another indication that Canada stands a good chance of leading the medical cannabis world is the recent agreement between Sandoz Canada and licensed medical marijuana producer Tilray Inc. On March 19, 2018, Tilray announced that it had formed an exclusive partnership with Sandoz Canada to develop non-smokable cannabis-based therapeutic drugs delivered through gel caps or lotions.
Sandoz is owned by Novatis and the agreement represents big pharma’s first venture into developing cannabinoid-based therapeutic treatments.
Pascal Biosciences discovered certain cannabinoids that help our immune system kill tumor cells.
Canopy Growth also has a medical division that holds a number of patents. If Canada can develop the momentum that comes with first mover status there is a good chance that it can dominate the global medical cannabis market.
- Published in Blog
New Molecules in Cannabis Discovered That Stimulate the Immune System to Destroy Tumor Cells
Momentum Public Relations
Blog: February 21, 2018
Medical Cannabis Going From Strength to Strength with New
Discovery by Pascal BioSciences
Scientific Proof of Efficacy Just Around the Corner as Canadian
Companies lead the Way
Global Cancer Drug Market expected to hit US$161. Billion in
2021
On February 21, 2018 the news broke that Vancouver-based Pascal
Biosciences, (TSXV: PAS) had identified molecules in cannabis
that stimulate the immune system to destroy tumor cells. It is the
first time that cannabinoids have been shown to activate an
immune system response.
The discovery is important because it works hand in hand with the
leading new class of cancer fighting agents known as checkpoint
inhibitors that activate the immune system to destroy cancer cells.
Using cannabinoids to enhance the recognition of cancer cells may
very well prove to enhance the efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors.
Checkpoint inhibitors are recently approved therapies that activate
the immune system to kill cancer cells. The three which are
currently on the market, Opdivo, Keytruda and Yervoy had over
US$ 6 billion in sales during 2017. Research is ongoing to develop
drugs that enhance checkpoint inhibitors. Pascal is the first to do
so.
Cannabinoids are the chemical compounds in the cannabis plant
with medical properties. More than a 100 different cannabinoid
compounds have been identified. While medical cannabis has been
available in Canada and the United States for some time its
availability and use has been based on anecdotal evidence.
Canada may very well become an international leader in medical
cannabis drug development. Tetra Bio-Pharma, (TSXV: TBP), for
instance is now conducting phase three clinical trials to prove the
safety and efficacy of a cannabinoid-based chronic and cancer pain
treatment, PPP001.
Zion Market Research predicted in 2016 that the global market for
cancer drugs would reach US$161.30 Billion by the end of 2021.
Because there has not yet been any scientific evidence that
cannabinoid-based drugs are effective or safe cannabinoid-based
treatments are in limbo. Once their safety and efficacy have been
proved they will be eligible to receive Health Canada, and in the
United States, FDA approval. This in turn will give them a Drug
Identification Number, (DIN), which in turn will allow them to be
prescribed by physicians and make them eligible for insurance
coverage.
Thanks to its phase three clinical trial to prove the safety and
efficacy of its smokable cancer and chronic pain treatment,
PPP001, it looks as if Tetra Bio-Pharma will be the first
biopharmaceutical to do so. Tetra also has a deep pipeline of
cannabinoid-based treatments for ailments such as PTSD,
anorexia, nausea and ocular pain. Tetra expects PPP001 to be on
the market as early as 2019 or at the latest during 2020.
Pascal has not yet started clinical trials.
- Published in Blog