In Rare Cannabinoids, BioMedican Sees Alphabet Of Potential Dietary And Drug Ingredients

Executive Summary

BioMedican is ready to produce CBG, cannabigerol, and THC-V, tetrahydrocannabivarin, through biosynthesis and plans by the end of the year to start making CBN, cannabinol, and THC-A, tetrahydrocannabinolic-acid.

BioMedican Inc. expects the types of cannabinoids it is ready or preparing to produce will be in demand for clinical trials for use in dietary supplements as well as drugs.

“We targeted them because there’s a market for them; otherwise, we would be targeting other ones,” said Dennis O’Neill, president of the San Francisco-based firm.

‘Pharmaceutical’ Controls, Lower Costs: Future Of Cannabinoid Ingredients In Biosynthesis?

Synthetics are necessary for drugs containing cannabinoids because the active ingredient must be consistent from dose to dose. Cannabinoids extracted from hemp vary from plant to plant and more widely from crop to crop, but consistency should matter for cannabinoids used as dietary ingredients, says BioMedican president Dennis O’Neill.

It is ready to produce CBG, cannabigerol, and THC-V, tetrahydrocannabivarin, and plans by the end of the year to start making CBN, cannabinol, and THC-A, tetrahydrocannabinolic-acid.

In the US, hemp was de-scheduled as a controlled substance in the 2018 farm bill, which defined it as containing no more than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the ingredient in cannabis known for its psychoactive properties. (Also see "FDA To Consider Regulatory Shift Making Cannabis Ingredients Officially Eligible For Use In Dietary Supplements" - HBW Insight, 28 Dec, 2018.)

Some states still prohibit sales of products containing hemp-derived ingredients and are known to prevent transportation of the ingredients, a practice that hinders businesses making and marketing the products.

Although one cannabinoid BioMedican is ready and one it plans to produce include “THC” in the names, the substances have no psychoactive effect. “The compounds that we targeted were specifically because they have zero psychoactive effect,” O’Neill said.

BioMedican isn’t working with CBD, a hemp extract labeled as an ingredient in hundreds of supplements as well as other non-drug products available in the US. It’s offering “rare cannabinoids” with potentially different and better health benefits (see below).

From Relieving Pain To Reducing Eye Pressure

According to BoMedican, CBG works to reduce inflammation, pain and nausea and “to slow the proliferation of cancer cells” and “it also significantly reduces intraocular eye pressure caused by glaucoma. Hemp extracts high in CBG “will be beneficial treating conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease, and cancer.”

THCV, which has no psychoactive effects, has been shown in rodent studies to decrease appetite, increase satiety and up-regulate energy metabolism. The firm says those traits make THC-V “a clinically useful remedy for weight loss and management of obesity and type 2 diabetic patients”

CBN can be used effectively as a sleep aid or sedative and also has been shown to help regulate the immune system and to work to relieve the pain and inflammation caused by several conditions, including arthritis and Crohn's disease

THCA also has no psychoactive effects while working to relieve inflammation and pain “and is an ideal cannabinoid for treating symptoms of such conditions as arthritis, seizures,” says BioMedican. As an effective neuroprotectant, THCA “it is beneficial in the treatment of such conditions as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease,” the firm says.

“Each company that we sell these compounds to will have to make their own decisions of what type of claims that they can or will make,” O’Neill said.

“There hasn’t been a lot of clinical trials on these yet, but I think we’ll start seeing those ramp up. The biggest problem is it’s hard to get enough of these compounds to do clinical trials without having the costs being exorbitant. The second part is that you need that consistency so you can replicate,” O’Neill said.

Don't Count Out CBD

Clinical trials with cannabinoids point predominantly to drug products, but BioMedican currently expects the non-drug market to account for most of its business.

“I think that the biggest market over the next couple years will be the CBD market, selling into that distribution network is really, really big,” O’Neill said.

Cosmetic product firms will account for a growing part of the firm’s business. “Everybody’s looking to differentiate,” he said.

“The large distributors of CBD nutraceuticals and some pet care products, skin care lotions and people of that sort, they have an interest in n utilizing these compounds and formulating with these compounds for their health benefits.”

Consumer demand for CBD has set the stage for sales of additional hemp extracts such as rare cannabinoids. “Five to seven years ago you didn’t hear about CBD, but now every gas station you walk into has it for sale,” O’Neill said.

“I think what you’ll see that as the demand for CBD globally continues to skyrocket, that there is a percentage of users of CBD that are interested in what other cannabinoids are out there and whether they offer some health benefits. It’s basically done through self-research. … There’s an audience that’s growing for it and that typically leads to demand.”

Still, rare cannabinoids’ use in drug products represents a larger return on BioMedican’s and other biosynthesis firms’ investments.

“On the pharmaceutical side, I think anything that’s going to start going through clinical trials that’s a rare cannabinoid will come thru biosynthesis. We think what we have is the best because it’s bio-identical with no byproducts,” O’Neill said.

He says BioMedican expects an ingredient it will provide to be used in a drug approved for sale in the US in two years. “That’s what we are looking at.”