Biopharmaceutical research company's plant-inspired formulations entering final stages before first-in-human clinical trials
LAS VEGAS, Nevada – Gb Sciences, Inc. (OTCQB:GBLX), a leading plant-inspired biopharmaceutical research and development company, has selected the University of Lethbridge in Canada to complete a dose range study of Gb Sciences' patent-protected formulations in a rodent model of Parkinson's disease (PD). Gb Sciences plans on filing an Investigational New Drug Application to begin first-in-human clinical trials as early as next year. As the second-most common neurodegenerative disease, the market for Parkinson's disease treatments is expected to grow to $8.8 billion by 2026.
Gb Sciences received U.S. Patent No. 10,653,640 in May 2020 for its proprietary cannabinoid-containing therapeutic mixtures for the treatment of PD. Animal studies conducted by the National Research Council of Canada found that Gb Sciences' PD formulations achieved statistically significant reductions in the PD-like motor symptoms associated with the loss of dopamine-producing neurons. Initial toxicity studies for these original PD formulas came back with no significant evidence of adverse effects.
Through GbS Global Biopharma, its wholly owned Canadian subsidiary, Gb Sciences has signed a contract with the University of Lethbridge, located in Alberta, Canada, to complete required rodent dose response studies. These important studies will determine the dose range of active ingredients that will be used in human trials and will identify potential side effects. These dose range studies are scheduled to begin next month.
"Our drug discovery process has identified ratio-specific mixtures of cannabinoids that achieved the statistically significant reduction of Parkinsonian movement symptoms in an animal model; thus establishing our proof-of-concept for this therapeutic program," said Dr. Andrea Small-Howard, President and Chief Science Officer of Gb Sciences. "Now, working with the University of Lethbridge, we are taking a major step forward by testing these cannabinoid ratio-specific formulations to establish the dose range for our first-in-human clinical trial."
To create Gb Sciences' novel therapies, the company's goal is to identify 'minimum essential mixtures' that retain the efficacy of whole plant extracts, but with the manufacturing and quality control advantages of single ingredient pharmaceutical products. Gb Sciences uses its novel PhAROS™ (Phytomedical Analytics for Research Optimization at Scale) drug discovery engine's predictive capabilities, combined with rigorous high throughput screening of potential combinations of these plant-derived compounds in established cellular models of disease to determine which minimum essential mixtures from these plant-based materials may be therapeutically beneficial. These minimum essential mixtures are then validated and refined in animal models, in preparation for the first-in-human trial.
"Gb Sciences is an innovator in drug discovery and development, and they have promising drug candidates for the treatment of Parkinsonian movement disorders. With the state-of-the-art behavioral measurement methods at the University of Lethbridge and the exceptional innovative programs, this promises to be an outstanding, productive partnership," said Dr. Robert Sutherland, Ph.D., FRSC, Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge, Board of Governors Research Chair in Neuroscience, and Director of the Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience. "Using rodent models of PD-motor symptoms, we should be able to predict the appropriate dose range and duration of action of Gb Sciences' PD therapies for its first-in-human trial."
To learn more about Gb Sciences, visit www.gbsciences.com.
About the University of Lethbridge
Founded in 1967, on traditional Blackfoot land, the University of Lethbridge is home to 8,900 undergraduate and graduate students from around the world. With campuses in Lethbridge and Calgary, we are one of Canada's top-ranked universities and leading research institutions. Our Blackfoot name, gifted to us by Elder Bruce Wolf Child, is Iniskim, meaning Sacred Buffalo Stone. The University of Lethbridge is a board-governed public post-secondary institution operating in Alberta as a comprehensive academic and research university under the authority of the Post-secondary Learning Act.
Located in the heart of traditional Blackfoot Confederacy territory, the University of Lethbridge serves the people of southern Alberta through programs, research and creative activity that contribute to economic and social prosperity locally and globally. Founded on the principles of liberal education, the University of Lethbridge is broad in scope while promoting excellence in undergraduate and graduate education that prepares students to understand and address an increasingly complex and interconnected world. The University fosters a learning community that meets the educational and personal growth needs of its students by offering a learning community emphasizing teaching excellence; exposure to research; information literacy; interaction with professors and instructors; effective academic advising, applied learning opportunities, and career counseling; and a spectrum of cultural, recreational, and extracurricular opportunities. To learn more, visit www.ulethbridge.ca.
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