InMed’s Cannabinoid-based Manufacturing System Covered in New Patent Application
InMed Pharmaceuticals has filed a provisional patent application covering its proprietary cannabinoid manufacturing system based on E. coli bacteria. This is the first of a series of patent applications the company plans to pursue covering different aspects of its biosynthesis system.
InMed is currently exploring the therapeutic potential of two cannabinoid-based compounds: INM-750 for the treatment of epidermolysis bullosa, and INM-085 for glaucoma.
The capacity of E. coli to produce compounds that may be of interest for therapeutic purposes has been known for some time. In fact, the synthetic insulin that millions of diabetics worldwide use is produced through E. coli biosynthesis.
The biosynthesis system that InMed has developed allowed the company to improve the production of cannabinoid compounds, similar to those found in nature. The system improves their stability and purity, while significantly reducing the costs associated with growth, harvest, and extraction procedures that are required in currently used systems.
“This novel approach to the biosynthesis of cannabinoids is a game-changer for drug development,” Vikramaditya Yadav, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering at the University of British Columbia and co-inventor of the biosynthesis technology, said in a press release.
“The importance of producing cannabinoids that are identical to the naturally occurring compounds cannot be overstated. Many drug development efforts with synthetic derivatives have failed,” Yadav added. “In our extensive experimentation, the E. coli system is more robust and more efficient for the manufacturing of cannabinoids as compared to other microbial platforms.”
InMed expects the new patent application to be converted into an international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application, which will provide the company legal protection to produce its E. coli system in any of the more than 90 cannabinoid-based compounds that have therapeutic potential.
The PCT will provide global protection to the invention in all member countries, including the U.S., Japan, India, Europe, Australia, Canada, and others.
The investigational INM-750, part of the company’s pipeline, was designed for the treatment of epidermolysis bullosa based on its potential for accelerated wound healing and reduced inflammation, its antimicrobial activity, and also for its capacity to reduce pain and itching.
INM-750 is expected to improve the production of keratin proteins in the skin, re-establishing normal skin structure and reversing the disease symptoms. The investigational drug is under formulation and advanced preclinical evaluation, with planned Phase 1 clinical trials to start in 2018.
Recently, InMed teamed up with French tissue engineering company ATERA to develop 3D human skin models with tissue taken from epidermolysis bullosa patients to test INM-750 in the lab before moving to clinical trials in humans.
