Most media reports about marijuana in the United States focus on pot dispensaries for medical use or newly passed laws in some states permitting the retail sale of weed. But one company is deeply zeroing in on the science of cannabis in a bid to come up with advanced pharmaceutical uses.
The co-founder of KannaLife Sciences, Thoma Kikis, explains that he first got interested in the field when a cousin of his – who was also a cancer researcher – got diagnosed with a brain tumor in his late 30s.
At the time, he was looking into alternative therapies for cancer, including cannabis, but had trouble convincing his cousin to try cannabis as an alternative treatment, because of a lack of scientific evidence to back it up. About six months later, his cousin passed away and Kikis said this marked a pivotal moment in his life.
He then discovered the pot dispensary system in California and said he immediately saw the potential for a business, so he teamed up with a friend who had experience in plant-based pharmaceuticals to begin developing a company in the medical marijuana field.
The company’s research focuses on cannabinoids, the chemicals that make up the plant. There are currently about 85 known cannabinoids that have been isolated. “The U.S. government held a patent on cannabis, on marijuana, and all the cannabinoids that are in marijuana,” he explained about the licensing process regulating the field.
About two years after launching the company, it successfully obtained a license for a disease called hepatic encephalopathy, a brain-liver disease. Kikis knew a little about the disease because his father is afflicted with it and he felt he could add some personal perspective, so this was another reason he decided to focus on it.
The company is also currently researching a cannabinoid called CBD – an antioxidant and neuroprotectant – for use in people with head injuries.
He says the company will continue to research alternative treatments for chronic traumaticencephalopathy, a debilitating disease that has recently been in the news because of the number of cases among NFL players.
But Kikis points out that the injury is a wide-reaching problem that is also happening to athletes at the college, high school and even middle school level, across various sports. “We’re looking for this treatment. But it takes a long time, especially when you’re involving the FDA.”
The discussion also takes up the topic of future potential retail opportunities for the company as it develops its standardization operations.
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