Diepenbeek, Belgium, 14 October 2020 – Cannovex BV (the ‘Company’ or ‘Cannovex), a developer of cannabinoid-based medicines today announces that it has been awarded a EUR 0.5 million development grant from VLAIO, the Flanders organization for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. The grant will run over two years and will support the development of nanofibrous films for transmucosal delivery of cannabinoids.
Although the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids has been recognized in a wide range of different disease areas (based on the interaction with the endocannabinoid system) by medical specialists, there is still a giant gap between its potential and the clinical evidence thereof. One of the reasons is the poor current formulation of the drug substance. Current cannabinoid-based products often show severe shortcomings like a substantial first pass metabolism effect, high inter- and intra-patient variability and considerable unwanted secondary effects. Many of these issues can be solved using Cannovex’ innovative formulations.
The development of the transmucosal film is part of the innovative programs on cannabinoid formulations at Cannovex. The Companies’ mission is to bring the positive effects of cannabinoids to patients by means of its most optimal delivery form possible and in accordance with the EU regulatory pathway. In partnership with a renowned EU university and a cGMP qualified drug delivery partner, the Company is developing the first-ever patch where cannabinoids are serving as active ingredient. These highly innovative formulations are the basis of a world-wide patent portfolio and the creators of a stepstone-platform towards many different disease areas. Given the numerous pre-clinical evidence and safety data available on cannabinoids, Cannovex is confident to be able to successfully test its innovative products in EU-regulated clinical trials in the coming years.
Steven Peters, Chief Executive Officer of Cannovex, commented: “We are very pleased to receive this VLAIO grant and support from the Flemish government for our highly innovative project in cannabinoids. This is a recognition for our pioneering work and for our vision and strategy in the biotech field. Around the world cannabinoids demonstrate to be a promising group of compounds potentially serving high unmet medical needs. It is our mission at Cannovex to develop these cannabinoids into proprietary innovative formulations and to clinically validate these in EMA and FDA regulated clinical trials.
Bram Beckers, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Cannovex, added: “R&D grants are an attractive source of funding for our company to drive and accelerate our research and development activities. In addition, the seal of approval from VLAIO clearly demonstrates the innovative potential of our activities. To start our clinical plans, the first step is to develop a highly reliable drug delivery platform for cannabinoids. This first transmucosal film is a perfect fit into this need and I’m really looking forward to work with specialists in this area to broaden our innovative cannabinoid-based product portfolio”
Cannovex expects to finalise its formulation next year and to start First in Human clinical trial testing soon after.
About the Company
Cannovex is a Belgian biotech company which develops innovative cannabinoid-based medicines to improve the lives of patients worldwide. For the development of cannabinoid-based medicines, purity and exact dosing of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) is a critical success factor. Cannovex dedicates much effort to the procurement of high-purity cannabinoids that can be precisely dosed in the required formulations. These cannabinoid APIs may either be sourced from renowned international API producers and/or produced in-house. Cannovex is committed to ensure cannabinoid molecules of the highest purity, thus enabling precise dosing for each formulation. Cannovex aims to set up clinical studies with these formulations, in collaboration with EU university hospitals, to provide proofs of concept (PoC). Based on these PoCs, Cannovex will explore partnerships with pharmaceutical companies to conduct end-stage clinical trials, to apply for market authorisation with European Medicines Agency (EMA) and similar authorities, and to bring our cannabinoid medicinal products to the markets worldwide.
More information can be found on www.cannovex.com
Bram Beckers, PhD, CSO, bram.beckers@canovex.com
Steven Peters, CEO, steven.peters@www.cannovex.com
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