InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc (INM)

[lesgetrich]

This is from their PR a year ago...

InMed Announces Update on Biosynthesis Project

The goal of InMed's biosynthesis program is to provide an alternate low cost and high quality process for producing phytocannabinoids for its product candidates. Typically, phytocannabinoids are extracted from the cannabis plant. The extraction process can be expensive, and can result in unwanted by-products and impurities. Using metabolic engineering the plant pathway for producing cannabinoids can be recreated in a microbial host and will be devoid of the by-products and impurities seen with extraction. The process can also be performed at industrial-scale allowing for a low cost production of cannabinoids.

...and from this year's PR...

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SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwired - Feb 15, 2017) - CFN Media Group ("CannabisFN"), the leading creative agency and digital media network dedicated to legal cannabis, today announced the publication of an article and video CEO interview covering InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s (OTCQB: IMLFF) (CSE: IN) groundbreaking cannabinoid biosynthesis technology.

The cannabis plant has been used for centuries for its therapeutic benefits, but researchers have only recently started to understand how it works in the human body. While tetrahydrocannabinol ("THC") and cannabidiol ("CBD") may be the most studied, there are 90+ other cannabinoids in the plant that could be valuable therapeutics with a relatively well-established safety profile given the plant's history. InMed Pharmaceuticals aims to leverage its innovative biosynthesis manufacturing technology to unlock the potential of these 90+ other cannabinoids by cost-effectively, safely and scalably producing them in a laboratory setting.

The process of growing, harvesting, processing and purifying cannabinoids can be costly -- time and resource intensive with several factors impacting quality control. While extraction of THC and CBD is economically feasible since they are far more prevalent in the plant (accounting for up to 90% of the total quantity of cannabinoids that can be extracted), the less common cannabinoids are very expensive due to their scarcity. Despite their potential in treating disease, it simply isn't realistic to explore their use in pharmaceutical products due to their high cost.

Most 'medical marijuana' companies have focused on using the whole plant and/or extraction of oil mixtures, while pharmaceutical companies have focused their efforts on growing cannabis, extracting THC and CBD in their pure forms ( > 99%), and studying their effects on conditions like epilepsy and pain management. Unfortunately, these factors could be limiting the potential uses for the extensive number of cannabinoids in treating various serious medical conditions.

InMed Pharmaceuticals has taken a unique low-cost / high-yield approach to developing cannabinoid-based compounds for inclusion in their products. By utilizing the process currently employed to manufacture insulin for diabetes, the company's strategy can scalably produce a wide range of cannabinoids beyond simply THC and CBD. These cannabinoids could have broad-reaching potential, but haven't been studied extensively because they are difficult to extract from the cannabis plant at scale.

InMed is initially targeting Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) and Glaucoma with specific cannabinoid compounds that have shown promise in early studies. EB is an orphan condition that has no currently approved treatments, which could pave the way for faster regulatory approvals and a dramatic improvement in patient quality of life. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the developed world.

The company's manufacturing technology will provide the compounds needed to research and commercialize their internal product candidates; however, it is estimated that the market for CBD alone, as an ingredient for mixing into other products, will surpass $2B by 2020. This manufacturing capability could very well be a huge stand-alone business opportunity for InMed.