On September 1, 2016 PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. (OTCQB:PMCB), a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing targeted treatments for cancer and diabetes using its signature live-cell encapsulation technology, Cell-in-a-Box, reported an update on its program for developing treatments for serious brain cancers that involve constituents of the Cannabis plant. These Cannabis-based cancer therapies, like PharmaCyte’s pancreatic cancer therapy, will involve the use of its Cell-in-a-Box technology. The cancer "prodrug" that will be activated (converted to their cancer-killing forms) by the cells inside the Cell-in-a-Box capsules are constituents of the Cannabis plant known as cannabinoids. PharmaCyte has contracted with the University of Northern Colorado (UNCO), led by Dr. Richard M. Hyslop, to conduct the research related to PharmaCyte’s medical Cannabis program. UNCO has obtained all of the necessary approvals and has now received research Cannabis to enable it to advance PharmaCyte’s program.
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The Chief Executive Officer of PharmaCyte, Kenneth L. Waggoner, commented on the progress being made by UNCO, "Obtaining permission to perform Cannabis-related research has been a rigorous and time-consuming process. First, a detailed research plan had to be submitted to, and approved by, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) before a Schedule 1 license could be issued. Then the research plan and a request for Cannabis plant material had to be submitted to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the only federally approved source of Cannabis, which is grown at a facility at the University of Mississippi. Only after NIDA approved the research plan was Cannabis for research issued to UNCO. Now that all of these governmental approvals have been obtained and UNCO has received the research Cannabis, we are finally able to build upon the firm foundation that had been laid in our quest to develop targeted cannabinoid cancer chemotherapies that utilize the Cell-in-a-Box technology."
The process being used to develop cannabinoid-based treatments involves three basic steps. First, suitable cannabinoid prodrugs or their precursors that are safe and possess few, if any, side effects must be identified. Second, a unique human cell line that manufactures an enzyme that "activates" the cannabinoid prodrug must be developed. This involves identification of the specific gene that encodes for the production of the enzyme and then "transfecting" or inserting the gene into human cells as was done for PharmaCyte’s pancreatic cancer therapy. Third, the engineered cells must be encapsulated utilizing the Cell-in-a-Box technology. The product will then be ready for testing in various cancer cell lines, animal models and ultimately humans.
UNCO researchers have developed and standardized systems and protocols for isolating and utilizing "model" cannabinoid compounds. Further, various types of cells have been cultured and then screened for the appropriate prodrug-activating enzymatic activity, some "target" genes have been amplified, and preliminary dosing and pharmacokinetic studies have been performed. Current and future research is focused on: (i) the synthesis and amplification of specific genes that produce the cannabinoid prodrug-activating enzymes; (ii) transfection of human cells with these genes; and (iii) testing of the ability of these transfected cells to activate cannabinoid prodrugs. Candidates for cannabinoid prodrugs to be studied include the "acidic" forms of the cannabinoids cannabidiol (CBDA) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THCA).