New Immunomodulatory Cannabinoid Drug Shows Promise in Fight Against COVID-19
CANADIAN BIOPHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY TETRA decades of pre-clinical data supporting the potential of the BIO-PHARMA INC., A GLOBAL LEADER in cannabinoidactive pharmaceutical ingredient used in ARDS003 to derived drug discovery and development, will soon be dampen systemic hyperinflammation. “We had this taking its novel injectable cannabinoid drug product, incredibly robust pre-clinical data in our sepsis models ARDS003, into human clinical trials. and, given that with COVID-19 we’re essentially talking “Everything is poised to go,” says Tetra Bio-Pharma’s about a viral sepsis, we thought that our drug would have Chief Scientific Officer, Melanie Kelly. signficant efficacy for treating the hyperinflammation that “The non-clinical program, including all of the studies drives acute respiratory distress syndrome [ARDS] in required for an investigational new drug product by the U.S severe COVID-19,” Dr. Kelly explains. FDA and Health Canada, have been completed and Tetra ARDS003 acts by activating a novel drug target, the Bio-Pharma has also finished type 2 cannabinoid (CB2) receptor, manufacturing of the clinical drug to dampen the body’s inflammatory product in order to move forward response. In part, this works by with its clinical program,” she says. reducing the excessive release of Prior to the global pandemic, the pro-inflammatory mediators that Ottawa-headquartered Tetra can give rise to a ‘cytokine storm’ Bio-Pharma, which is publicly which drives the inflammatory listed, was initially targeting the stages of sepsis. development of an ophthalmic “There are many advantages of prescription drug to treat an ocular targeting the CB2 receptor. It’s inflammatory condition called localized very highly to immune uveitis via local delivery to the eye. cells with relatively low expression However, when the COVID-19 in the brain compared to the type 1 pandemic began in 2020, the cannabinoid (CB1) receptor, which company repositioned its drug is expressed throughout the brain candidate to aggressively develop it and the nervous system. That as ARDS003, an intravenous means drugs that activate the CB2 medication for systemic treatment receptor don’t have the same kinds of severe COVID-19 patients in a of behavioural [psychoactive] hospital setting. side-effects that you see with In moving forward with non-selective cannabinoid drugs ARDS003, the company’s Dr. Melanie Kelly, Tetra Bio-Pharma’s Chief Scientific Officer leadership took into consideration 18
fall | autumn 2021
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