Cannabis Innovation and Patent Landscape

We provide innovation and patent landscape consulting services for cannabis.

The technology and scientific development of cannabis is our primary focus.

We aim to provide evidence-based insights to help advance the understanding of the benefits and reduce the risk of medical cannabis.

We are looking to participate in cannabis projects as a project member.

What is Cannabis?

Cannabis is a fascinating plant that has been cultivated since antiquity. Its products, cannabinoids or marijuana and hemp, also have long history from several ancient civilizations. In fact, it is one of the core Chinese traditional herbal medicines.

The two well known compounds from this plant are delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Briefly, THC is the psychoactive compound derived primarily from the flower of the plant, while CBD is the non-psychoactive compound. Cannabis plant has more than 100 cannabinoid molecules, plus many other classes of molecules including flavonoids and terpenes, which contribute to the entourage effects of the plant extract (as opposed to a single molecule being used).

In the last decade, more than 50 countries have legalized the use of marijuana plant as medicine.

CBD-containing medicines, Dronabinol and Nabilone, have been approved by FDA to treat different medical conditions such as nausea caused by chemotherapy and to increase appetite in patients with extreme weight loss caused by AIDS. The FDA also approved a CBD-based liquid medication called Epidiolex® for the treatment of two forms of severe childhood epilepsy, Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Nabiximols (Sativex®), a mouth spray containing THC and CBD, treats muscle control problems caused by multiple sclerosis.

Importantly, there are many anecdotes for the use of cannabis for chronic pain management.

It is encouraging that with the increased legalization of cannabis for medical purposes, more people could benefit from using cannabis. However, there needs to be more well-controlled clinical studies to better understand the conditions under which medical cannabis is safe and beneficial to the patients. What we know less about is when and under what conditions is cannabis less effective or poses a risk. This is especially important for younger patients, whose brains are still developing, as THC contains a brain altering component.

We hope to use our insights to contribute to the innovation success of cannabis. Below we provided preliminary results for our case study of cannabis.