"New compound from CBDA could be substitute for opioids & steroids"

Israeli researcher Raphael Mechoulam has announced the development of a process to modify and stabilize cannabidiolic acids (CBDA) that appear early in the cannabis plant’s growth, rendering compounds that have the potential for large-scale use.

The result is a semi-synthetic, fully stable, acid-based compound that could be useful in suppressing nausea from chemotherapy, and be a treatment for such afflictions as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and Psoriasis. 

Researchers say such compounds, which are more potent than CBD or THC – and which so far have shown no negative side effects – could replace steroids and opioids.

Politically correct for pharma

Mechoulam worked with American biotech startup EPM to develop the solution to stabilizing the acids through esterification, a simple chemical process. That could prove interesting to the pharmaceutical industry as the process turns out the acids in a consistent form that is patentable. Also, EPM CEO Reshef Swisa said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has told the company the compound would not be treated as cannabis but as any other drug in development, thereby avoiding the stigma and legal limitations associated with marijuana.

"CBDA for Psoriasis, Arthritis and Anxiety...???"

Cannabis research pioneer hopes latest discovery is not overlooked again...

Raphael Mechoulam, an Israeli organic chemist and professor of medicinal chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, remembers the letdown after his groundbreaking discoveries surrounding the structure of the cannabis compounds CBD and THC in 1963 and 1964, followed by clinical tests with CBD published in 1980.




In a 2018 British Journal of Pharmacology study, Mechoulam and his co-authors wrote that their synthetic compound, cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) methyl ester (HU-580) could be more effective than existing CBD remedies, making it “a potential medicine for treating some nausea and anxiety disorders.” Those initial clinical tests found the acids have yielded results on par, and even exceeding, existing treatments, without the side effects.

The naturally occurring but unstable CBD acid (CBDA) is a thousand times more potent than CBD in binding to a particular serotonin receptor thought to be responsible for alleviating nausea and anxiety.

“It’s an interesting molecule that potentially doesn’t have side effects,” said Dan Peer, managing director of the Center for Translational Medicine and head of the Cancer Biology Research Center at Tel Aviv University.