Cannabis Research
Cannabis is clearly a hot topic and Israel has become the epicenter of cannabis research and innovation. Since the DEA began the drug war in the U.S. and although in many states medical cannabis is already legal, the Government has made it notoriously difficult to research cannabis in the States, while the Israeli government and mainly the Ministry of Health through its Medical Cannabis Unit, has had a proactive attitude on cannabis research and has opened its doors to International companies to collaborate and work with Israeli researchers and organizations in the basic and clinical research of cannabis.
Many Clalit physicians are performing clinical trials in the field of medical cannabis as well as with pure cannabinoids. One of Mor’s promising spinoffs is Talent Biotechs, a clinical stage company developing a cannabidiol (CBD)-based drug for the prophylaxis and treatment of grant versus host disease, a fatal and frequent complication of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT). GVHD prevention represents a huge medical unmet need as there are currently no FDA approved therapies for prophylaxis and treatment of GVHD in its acute and chronic form, and the standard of care are generic immunosuppressants such as cyclosporine or methotrexate, which show very limited efficacy. Researches discovered in a phase II trial, that leukemia patients that had undergone a transplant while being treated with CBD had a significantly lower risk of acquiring the disease. Talent Biotechs was acquired by Kalytera Therapeutics, which continues with clinical development in the field.
Dr Timna Naftali, Specialist in Gastroenterology at Meir Hospital, is evaluating the effect of various types of cannabinoids for the treatment of irritable bowel diseases (IBD) and has published several articles based on her results.
Other trials are in the fields of CNS, oncology and more.
Mor Research Applications is opened for collaborations in the field.
For more information please contact Dr Sari Prutchi Sagiv at sari@mor-research.com
