NetworkNewsWire
Editorial Coverage: With cannabis set to become legal for
recreational use in July 2018 in Canada, and usage of the product
for medical purposes steadily rising both in Canada and worldwide,
cannabis companies have ramped up their efforts to make new
scientific discoveries related to the plant’s medical uses.
Companies leading the quest to demonstrate the potential of
cannabis in a medicinal context are Veritas Pharma (CSE:
VRT) (OTC: VRTHF) (FRT: 2VP) (VRTHF
Profile), GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:
GWPH), Canopy Growth Corp. (OTC: TWMJF) (TSX: WEED),
Aphria, Inc. (OTCQB: APHQF) (TSX: APH) and
Aurora Cannabis, Inc. (OTCQX: ACBFF) (TSX:
ACB).
Among companies seeking to produce clinical data to validate
medical marijuana claims, Veritas Pharma
(CSE: VRT) (OTC: VRTHF) (FRT: 2VP) has carved its own niche
with a multi-front approach to identifying the potential of its
cannabis products for ameliorating a variety of maladies, including
pain, nausea, epilepsy and PTSD.
Veritas Pharma’s overarching objective is to develop and
commercialize the most effective cannabis strains, backed by
clinical data, thereby solving the critical need for real science
to support claims surrounding medical cannabis. This approach, in
combination with the company’s strategic alliances, are expected to
address the medical community’s concerns over the complexities of
cannabis potency, efficacy, quality and content in the nearly 800
cannabis strains currently known in the world.
One such alliance is the recently established agreement between
Veritas’ 80 percent owned research arm, Cannevert Therapeutics Ltd.
(“CTL”), and the Fundacion de Investigacion (“FDI”), a well-known
center for pharmaceutical investigatory projects in Puerto Rico.
CTL’s partnership with FDI provides the structure and resources
needed to conduct the first human study of CTL-X, its lead cannabis
strain targeting pain. As Veritas CEO Lui Franciosi explained, the
agreement is aligned with the company’s quest to perform clinical
trials to prove the efficacy of the designated lead cannabis
strains and to market the clinically effective cultivars as
prescription medicines in a fast-track protocol.
“We are pleased to see Cannevert’s lead strain for pain is
finally heading into human trials. It’s important to us to move
quickly into this next phase of providing clinical proof of
cannabis’ effectiveness, this after our chemical and animal assays
delivered favorable results. FDI is a reputable group of clinicians
and clinical trialists with a long history of evaluating treatments
for major pharmaceutical companies. The Puerto Ricans are becoming
world leaders in investigating and selling cGMP medical cannabis
and their insights will be valuable. We aim to provide
physicians and patients with scientifically tested and clinically
proven cannabis therapies targeting pain. In the next year,
Veritas’s goal is to have a branded analgesic strain in which its
dose and method of administration are standardized to actively
compete with over-the-counter analgesics as well as potentially
reducing or eliminating opioid use in the acute and chronic pain
markets,” Franciosi stated in the news release announcing the
agreement (http://nnw.fm/Bl4fn)
Further expanding its research and addressing the global need
for safe and effective cancer treatments, Veritas recently hired
Dr. Dimitri Petchkovski of Fibroblast Consulting to spearhead its
investigation into use of Veritas’ cannabis strains in lung,
prostate, colon, breast, and melanoma cancer cell lines.
In Canada alone, there were more than 200,000 new cases of
cancer and nearly 81,000 cancer-related deaths in 2017, according
to Canadian Cancer
Statistics 2017. Despite considerable need for effective
therapies, the market lacks sufficient scientific evidence to
demonstrate cannabis or cannabinoids can cut the risk of cancer.
While most cancer scientists focus on understanding how different
cancers respond to specific compounds in cannabis,
Veritas’ approach will be to quickly access more cannabis
varieties, systematically profile the effects of the whole plant
using various in vitro and in vivo animal models
of cancer alongside standard drugs, and quickly conduct a clinical
trial.
Results of Veritas’ research to-date illustrate the company’s
unique place in the medical cannabis industry, propelled by its
focus on the biological effect of the actual spectrum of
cannabinoids as it seeks to patent and protect results-driven
strains.
The company’s approach positions it among the ranks of more
recognizable names in the industry, including GW
Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: GWPH), which has taken the lead
in searching for evidence of the efficacy of cannabinoid products
in treating specific medical conditions. The company focuses
particularly on neurological conditions, including therapeutic
areas such as schizophrenia, glioma, and epilepsy. The company’s
primary product candidate Epidiolex (cannabidiol) is targeted at
certain rare and severe early-onset epilepsy syndromes that are
resistant to current drugs. GW developed Sativex, which is the
first prescription medicine derived from cannabis. The drug has
been approved in more than 30 countries for use in treating
spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis.
While GW Pharmaceuticals leverages a partnership with a UK-based
greenhouse grower to cultivate cannabis for its Epidiolex
treatment, other cannabis companies utilize crop from some of
Canada’s leading licensed producers – all of which play a
considerable role in the global push for cannabis-based
therapies.
Canopy Growth Corp. (OTC: TWMJF) (TSX: WEED),
currently the leading supplier of medical marijuana in Canada,
operates a diverse collection of brands and curated strain
varieties. The company has more than half a million square feet of
production capacity. With the introduction of its Spectrum Cannabis
Brand to the Canadian market, it has helped encourage
simplification of the classification of cannabis products by using
a color-guided code in relation to THC and CBD levels. This
innovation is designed to help increase consumer acceptance of
cannabis by making it easier for them to understand the
characteristics of the product they are buying.
Aphria, Inc. (OTCQB: APHQF) (TSX: APH) is
another major producer of cannabis for the Canadian market. It
grows all of its product in greenhouses, helping to keep lighting
costs low, making the company one of Canada’s lowest-cost producers
of cannabis. Aphria recently invested in Scientus Pharma, a drug
development firm which is developing drugs targeting the
endocannabinoid receptors found in the body to help treat diseases
of the organs, brain, and connective tissues. The company’s goal is
to introduce pharmaceutical standards in manufacturing,
formulations, and dosing to the medical cannabis market.
Aurora Cannabis, Inc. (OTCQX: ACBFF) (TSX: ACB)
is a producer of medical marijuana for the Canadian market with a
growing facility in Mountain View County, Alberta. After product
recalls were announced at other Canadian cannabis producers earlier
in 2017, the company took a strong stand for transparency in the
industry by announcing that all products sold by the company will
be accompanied by a certificate of analysis by a third-party
testing laboratory. Aurora’s stated hope is that this policy will
increase consumer confidence in the purity of the products the
company sells.
By gathering evidence of the ability of cannabis-driven
compounds to help individuals who have varied ailments and by
developing new approaches to the processing and sale of the
product, these companies can help the industry as a whole progress
while solidifying their own positions in the industry. Veritas
specifically mentions among its goals making Canada a world leader
in cannabis research. The company aims to play its part in this
process by discovering new cannabis cultivars for specific disease
conditions, developing cultivars to set standards that can be
clinically evaluated over the next two years, and becoming the
leader in prescription cannabis.
Veritas hopes to become an active participant in the market for
global cancer pain drugs and plans to apply for patent protection
for any discoveries resulting from its research into the use of
cannabinoids for this purpose. With a report from Zion Market
Research projecting that the global cancer drugs market will rise
to $161 billion by the end of 2021, the addressable market for
cannabis-related cancer therapeutics is substantial. Veritas’
research arm has already filed for a provisional patent application
from the US Patent and Trademark Office in 2017 for using a
specific cannabis strain in neuropathic pain. Such pain occurs
chronically with tissue and nerve fiber damage in conditions such
as cancer and diabetes. The Global Neuropathic Pain Market Research
Report Forecast to 2023 projects the market to reach $5.5 billion
USD, making this a condition well worth targeting.
Canada’s decision to legalize the recreational use of cannabis
in 2018 heralds what is expected to be continued growth of the
cannabis market for medicinal use, not only in that country but
worldwide as people become more comfortable with its use and as
expected new discoveries of its therapeutic properties are
announced.
Substantial growth in the cannabis market has occurred as a
number of countries have allowed the use of the product to one
extent or another, and the potential for growth in the market is
high as more users become aware of the benefits of using the
product for medicinal purposes and as more governments are expected
to approve its use.
An August analysis of the global market for medical cannabis by
Toronto-based Eight Capital forecasts a
potential for CAD$180 billion (or US$142 billion) in revenues
over the next 15 years. By taking steps to expand scientific
knowledge concerning conditions for which cannabis can provide
treatment options, companies operating in the cannabis industry
have laid the groundwork for continued industry and corporate
growth for many years to come.
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