In 1963, Prof. Raphael Mechoulam became the first scientist to isolate and synthesize the active ingredients in the cannabis plant : THC, CBD and several other cannabinoids. In 1988, his lab discovered the endocannabinoid system. Prof. Raphael Mechoulam is known as the “godfather” of cannabis research as his discoveries shaped and transformed the world of cannabis-related medical research
These days, the genius leads the medical team for EPM which plans to register in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange toward the end of 2021.
The aim of the research of the medical team is to discover the potential of cannabis acids as an alternative drug for several diseases including Crohns, colitis, epilepsy etc. The team replicated the structures of cannabis acids allowing them to be reproduced on a large scale without the need to depend on living plants.
“We’ve so far developed 14 different molecules, eight of which are completely novel discoveries, meaning that we own a very exclusive patent on them, since they are a new discovery to the scientific world,” said EPM’s CEO, Reshef Swisa in an interview given to the Jerusalem post . “Each one of those molecules has the potential to be developed into several drugs, while many companies can do incredible things with even just one molecule.”
Swisa gave the example of the epilepsy drug Epidiolex, which British pharmaceutical businessman Julian Gangolli helped launch. The drug became the first cannabis-derived drug approved by the FDA in 2018.
“We had children who were having 40 or 50 epileptic seizures a week that this product was able to attenuate to very few and even being seizure-free,” Gangolli said.
In fact, a lot of drugs come from plants. This is the case of the drug aspirin which is a synthesized version of salicylic acid, which is derived from the bark of the willow tree.
Swisa said that their tests for colitis showed that synthesized cannabis acids outperform CBD treatments and perform similarly to the standard treatments and steroids on the market. This discovery is quite significant as steroids come with a fair share of side effects, including a weakening of immune responses.
“The more we checked, the more we saw that we have a new potential alternative to probably two of the most horrible diseases you can find today,” Swisa said. “Both Crohn’s and colitis are life-destroying. Right now, they are forced to choose between bad and terrible.”
EPM has found that synthetic cannabis acids have the potential to treat obesity, lung inflammations, nausea, depression, anxiety and skin disorders such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.
