cannabisnews.com: Company Stakes Future on Medicines from Marijuana





Company Stakes Future on Medicines from Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on November 23, 2003 at 08:04:02 PT
By Linda A. Johnson, Associated Press
Source: Associated Press 
Iselin, N.J. - Could a synthetic, chemical cousin of marijuana's active ingredient be the first drug that protects the brain from devastating damage common after a serious brain injury? Pharmos Corp. is betting on it.The Iselin-based biopharmaceutical company is conducting late-stage human tests of its compound, called Dexanabinol, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted fast-track status for review of the drug when testing is completed.
That's because there is currently no medication specifically approved to treat severe damage to the brain from car crashes, sports injuries, falls or violence.While the initial skull fracture and brain bruising can be severe, the bigger problem can come later: Dangerous swelling and the release of chemicals that kill healthy brain cells near the injured ones cause more severe, long-lasting damage to those who survive.Current treatments are only supportive - keeping up blood pressure, emergency surgery to remove blood clots in the brain and drilling a hole in the skull to release dangerous pressure inside."This drug is supposed to significantly increase chances of resuming your life," said Gad Riesenfeld, president of Pharmos. "We believe there is no drug that could succeed except this one."According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are roughly 5 million Americans living with disabilities caused by brain injury. About 1.5 million head injuries occur each year, half from motor vehicle accidents, and about 50,000 victims die. Another 1.25 million have mild injuries that require no hospital treatment or just ER care.About 300,000 are admitted to hospitals, usually with serious swelling in the brain. Some 90,000 have severe brain injury and are in a coma; most can recover some function with rehabilitation.That group is the one targeted in Pharmos' current testing of Dexanabinol, which does not have the psychotropic effects of marijuana.Doctors at more than 60 hospitals in the United States and Europe must quickly obtain permission from victims' relatives to include them in the study, in which half get an injection of Dexanabinol and the other half an inert substance. The patients' recovery is then monitored for six months. Testing of about 860 patients should conclude late next year.Drugs previously tested for traumatic brain injury have all failed, but the early test results from Dexanabinol are "extremely encouraging and very promising," said Dr. Gregory O'Shanick, national medical director for the Brain Injury Association of America.Dexanabinol is the first drug tested that appears to reduce inflammation, prevent a lethal influx of chemicals that kill brain cells near the injured area, and capture free radicals that also kill brain cells."If Dexanabinol does it, then it would be sort of a home run," said Dr. Raj Narayan, chairman of the American Brain Injury Consortium, a group of researchers that along with European counterparts are coordinating testing.Narayan, who is chairman of neurosurgery at the University of Cincinnati, noted that no safety problems have shown up in testing so far.However, O'Shanick cautioned that patients are only being followed for six months, and neurological problems from brain injury endure much longer. Those include seizures, headaches, movement and vision disorders and severe personality changes, among others.O'Shanick said he thinks Dexanabinol will limit the cascade effect after initial injury, which should bring more improvement to recovering patients as they go through rehabilitation such as speech, occupational and cognitive therapy."This will not cure traumatic brain injury," said O'Shanick, who stresses that many injuries can be prevented by using seat belts and wearing protective helmets during sports activities.Analyst David Bouchey, vice president of health care research at C.E. Unterberg, Towbin, thinks Dexanabinol could be approved by mid-2006 if the current testing proves it is effective.Bouchey estimates worldwide sales could hit about $550 million in 2009, and could go higher if the drug is later approved for moderate and mild head injury or other conditions. Pharmos executives estimate the market could eventually exceed $1 billion annually."The science behind this is very good. The way they developed it has been impeccable," with strong early results and a well-designed late-stage test that should prove definitively how well Dexanabinol works, Bouchey said.Pharmos also is testing synthetic cannabinoid compounds as possible treatments for the memory and thinking problems common after heart bypass surgery, for nerve pain and for other degenerative and inflammatory diseases.Unlike most small drug companies, Bouchey noted, Pharmos is run by executives who have twice before shepherded an experimental drug through testing and gotten it approved by the FDA. Both were ophthalmology drugs, and Pharmos sold them to contact lens maker Bausch & Lomb in a deal that continues to bring Pharmos money, he said, before switching the company's focus to neurology drugs.A third ophthalmology drug for which Pharmos did the early testing before selling the rights to Bausch & Lomb is being reviewed by the FDA; if approved, B&L would pay Pharmos up to $20 million."It's very rare that you find a developmental-stage biotechnology company where the management has been there and done that," Bouchey said.He said Pharmos has enough cash to fund operations for about 1 1/2 years, plus the company this month filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission allowing it to sell up to $50 million in stock and other securities.While the company is losing about $17 million a year, Boucher expects it to make a profit of about $15 million in 2005, with revenues and net income increasing steadily starting in 2007.Complete Title: Drug Company Stakes Future on Medicines from Marijuana CompoundsON THE NETPharmos Corp.: http://www.pharmoscorp.com/Brain Injury Association: http://www.biausa.org/ Source: Associated Press Author: Linda A. Johnson, Associated PressPublished: Sunday, November 23, 2003 Copyright: 2003 Associated Press Related Articles:Analyst Sees $1 Billion Market for Pharmos http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17549.shtmlMarijuana Ingredient Helps Head Injurieshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11046.shtmlCompound May Reduce Brain Trauma Damagehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11033.shtml 
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on November 23, 2003 at 18:55:54 PT
RasAric
Hi RasAric, Here is a link to the story. AP writers don't have contact information to write to them. That's why you won't see any email in the articles that I post that are by the AP. This article is not published in the Miami Herald even though they are using the article. I hope this explains it OK. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/7333349.htm
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Comment #3 posted by RasAric on November 23, 2003 at 18:46:09 PT
farm-a-pseudo--kills?....Um, no thanks.
Synthetic, chemical cousin of marijuana.....? Give me a break. Whether it works or not, people are not interested in your "lab-rat shwag"Also, many use cannabis for it's inspirational, psychoactive effects, partially because we don't really care for alcohol's psychosuppressive properties. We're still going to use the plant, and some may try your little pot pills either way cannabis was, is, and will continue co-exist with us. It makes sense though that our tyrranical governing system, which cares more about pharma-pseudo-kill companies and their patents & profits instead of helping to mitigate pain and sickness, would be in favor of a citizenry of drunken, mindless, "kill 'em all & let God sort 'em" flag wavers...Hey FoM, would you post the URL for this specific AP story? I cannot find it on their site. Neither can I find the contact info for Linda A. Johnson. Thanks.
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Comment #2 posted by Virgil on November 23, 2003 at 17:51:46 PT
The word synthetic
The word synthetic means that it is not a compound from nature. It could be a natural compound that is altered or it can be made by chemical process.Marinol is manmade, but it is still the same chemically as the THC in cannabis except it is isolated from other cannabinoids and it is suspended in sesame oil. The French extracted pure THC well over a hundred years ago, so we know damned well that GW can extract THC and make the exact same pill as UniMed's Marinol. How can they stop GW from making immediate claims to our market when they could make the exact same pill and what would the difference in cost be?Not one Congressman is doing any plain talking much less answering a direct and pertinent question. What do you get when you mix silence and bullshit? Prohibition and a bunch of treasonous Congressmen. Take either grouping and you get stink. They are the same thing except you have stirred stink and unstirred stink. 
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Comment #1 posted by DeVoHawk on November 23, 2003 at 12:02:43 PT
Too Late
"the first drug that protects the brain from devastating damage common after a serious brain injury" is Cannabis not 
Dexanabinol.Lies Lies Lies
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