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InMed Pharmaceuticals Is More Than Just Another Cannabis Drug Company

This article is more than 7 years old.

InMed Pharmaceuticals is a Vancouver-based pre-clinical trial biotech company that has not only developed a proprietary cannabinoid manufacturing system but in the process created a highly sought after database. This database has mapped the different compounds of cannabinoids to the various diseases that it can address.

The database was created by InMed to assist them in their research and has now become a core asset as other biotech companies have come knocking on their door willing to pay for this information. Most medical marijuana processors are using THC and CBD because they are easy to extract in a large volume from the plant, but there are over 90 different cannabinoid structures that InMed has plugged into its system. The bioinformatics algorithm has taken those different compounds and screens them against approved drugs, diseases and genetic profiles of diseases. It then selects specific cannabinoids that might help regulate that particular disease.

This tool is saving time and money in the drug research process. It has already helped InMed to identify two therapies. One for a rare children's skin disease called epidermolysis bullosa (EB) that has no approved treatments and the other for glaucoma. Chief Executive Officer Eric Adams said, “It's a very devastating disease and we found out in early testing that this set of cannabinoids treat the major symptoms of this disease giving them a tremendous amount of relief, but it may also reverse the disease, which is something no one has really talked about before.”

The company is still in its early stages for these drugs with plans to begin clinical trials in 2018 for the EB drug. It plans to follow on with glaucoma and pain therapies but is focusing on the EB treatment first. The EB drug and the glaucoma drug have a potential revenue of $6 billion a year.

InMed is unique for a biotech company because it has more to offer than just a drug pipeline. In addition to the database, they have also developed a method of biosynthesis for cannabinoids that is similar to the one used to create synthetic insulin for millions of diabetic patients. It gives access to minor cannabinoids that are currently not economic to develop into drugs, plus it's cheaper and scalable.

The traditional method is to grow thousands of plants, purify them and process them, which Adams finds to be very unclean. The other end of the spectrum is creating the compound in a chemical lab to recreate structures, which is also time-consuming, very expensive and not quite identical to what nature has given. InMed starts with the cannabinoid DNA and actually puts it into a bacteria called E-coli. The E-coli DNA is removed and then the cannabinoid DNA takes over. Like a pharmaceutical copy machine.

Adams said, “It's a tool we created for our ourselves to provide drugs for our own pipeline, but it turns out a lot of people are now coming to us wanting to tap into this biosynthesis process as a raw material supplier for their own activity. It will probably be an interesting business for us.” It is expected to be available for labs by the end of this summer.

InMed Pharmaceuticals is a penny stock that trades on the Over-the-Counter market. It has increased 180% over the past year as the company has souped up its board with medical professionals from leading pharmaceutical companies like Eli Lilly and hit the biotech conference circuit. The company also has a former medical director from GW Pharmaceuticals on its team. It's way too early to consider InMed the next GWPH, but it continues to make the right moves to build its reputation and create revenue sources besides the drug pipeline.

“We have a lot on our table right now, but we now have a lot of companies coming to us to access the database and when the time comes they may need us for our raw materials,” said Adams. “InMed's in very unique a position to help enable a large array of pharmaceutical and drug development programs not only for ourselves but for other people to really explore the uses of this drug.”

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