Company evaluates cannabinoid therapies for heart failure, cardiac hypertrophy
Growblox Life Sciences has licensed intellectual property for Makai Biotechnology for therapeutic methods to treat cardiac hypertrophy though regulation of TRPV1, a cannabinoid receptor.
GB Sciences announced the deal in a Dec. 13 news release. Growblox Life Sciences is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GB Sciences, which focuses on creating cannabinoid therapies for various medical conditions.
GB Sciences said that licensing TRPV1 will help them develop therapies to treat cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure.
Alexander J. Stokes, PhD, an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii, founded Makai Biotechnology in 2013 to develop treatments for heart failure.
“Licensing this TRPV1 patent underscores our drug discovery commitment to targeting the non-classical cannabinoid receptors, beyond the usual CB1 and CB2 receptors,” Andrea Small-Howard, PhD, chief science officer of GB Sciences, said in a news release. “Our vision of novel, patentable cannabis-based formulations in the treatment of major diseases is now married with a proven drug target for modulation of adverse outcomes in cardiovascular disease. Cannabinoids in native plant extracts exerted a more significant effect on TRPV1 receptors than purified cannabinoids in published research reports, and GB Sciences’ cannabis-plant-based approach may provide additional clinical benefits to patients due to the ‘entourage effect.’ In addition, the side effect profiles of cannabis-based therapies have generally been well tolerated.”
Executive Editor
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.