Aphios
Awarded National Cancer Institute Grant for Developing Natural
Cannabinoid Products for Medical Use
June
04, 2002
— Aphios
Corporation was recently awarded a Phase I SBIR grant entitled
“Development of a Natural Cannabinoid Product”
from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes
of Health (NIH).
Marijuana
(Cannabis sativa) and a number of cannabinoids including
its primary psychoactive component, Del 9-THC (Del 9-tetrahydrocannabinol),
show promise for treating pain and cachexia in cancer and
AIDS patients. The overall goal of this research program
is to develop a natural pharmaceutical grade Del 9-THC product
for medical use. While Del 9-THC can be synthesized, the
process is complex and expensive. Aphios plans to cost-effectively
manufacture a natural Del 9-THC product by utilizing supercritical
fluids and near-critical fluids w/wo polar cosolvents such
as alcohols (SuperFluids™). The Company anticipates
that such a process will also produce other bioactive cannabinoids
and cannabinoid mixtures for future research and therapeutic
use.
Aphios
Corporation (www.aphios.com) is a biopharmaceutical company
that is developing enhanced natural therapeutics for health
maintenance and the treatment of human diseases with a focus
on infectious diseases and oncology. The Company has developed
several enabling SuperFluids™ technology platforms
for improving the discovery, manufacturing, delivery and
safety of therapeutic drugs, and has several enhanced therapeutic
drugs in development. Aphios’ product pipeline includes
small pharmaceutically active molecules from medicinal plants
and marine organisms, and large protein macromolecules that
are crucial to the functioning of the human genome.
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