Business
New THC-CBD Pill for MS and Huntington’s Disease May Be First to Benefit from Biden’s New Marijuana Research Bill
MMJ’s cannabis pill for multiple sclerosis and Huntington’s Disease may be up next!
The MMJ trifecta of firms, in partnership with a specialized pharmaceutical soft gelatin production firm, has completed production of its CBD, THC capsule medicine based on compounds in the cannabis plant. The company will conduct clinical trials on its unique pharmaceutical to demonstrate its safety, efficacy, and treatment for individuals with Huntington’s disease (HD) and multiple sclerosis (MS).
Once FDA-approved for usage in clinical trials, MMJ will be the only firm offering a CBD and THC pill that will be thoroughly tested in clinical studies. It also implies that this plant-based, non-synthetic, highly purified form of CBD and THC is produced following the FDA’s current Good Manufacturing Practices guidelines.
“MMJ International Holdings has pushed carefully for the past five years to formulate the capsule and log in all of the evidence required by the FDA for approval,” said Dr. Elio Mariani, MMJ’s CEO. The president of MMJ, Duane Boise, also added that among MMJ’s lead treatments are MMJ-001 and MMJ-002. Both capsules are based on a colloidal solution of highly purified extracts of THC, CBD, and other compounds from the cannabis plant.
MMJ-001 is being evaluated as a therapy for muscle stiffness (spasticity) in individuals with multiple sclerosis. MMJ-002 is an experimental therapy for Huntington’s-related chorea (a neurological disorder with the characteristic symptom of involuntary jerking movements). The US Food and Medication Administration has designated MMJ-002 as an orphan drug (FDA).
“MMJ’s clinical trials will provide data to the FDA on patient dose, safety, and efficacy to establish that cannabis can cure critical tremors, a neurological condition that results in involuntary shaking,” Duane Boise said. “We are confident that our MMJ oral gel cap medication, which contains the marijuana plant’s distinctive pharmacological qualities, will be authorized by the FDA as an effective and safe drug,” Tim Moynahan, board chairman, added.
MMJ recently received DEA approval to import cannabis-based goods into the United States, a process that requires the collaboration of various government agencies, including the FDA, Health Canada, and the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). In addition, the company recently received DEA clearance for a schedule 1 cannabis experimental lab and is seeking final DEA approval for their API Bulk Manufacturing Registration to produce cannabis plants.
“Our competent team was working within the DEA and FDA requirements to acquire all clearances,” Boise stated. “MMJ may now move forward with developing our cannabis-derived, natural extracts for our oral gel capsule medications in clinical studies in the United States.”
The Marijuana Research and Expansion Act
In related news, President Biden signed the Marijuana Research and Expansion Act into law. This will speed up researchers’ bids for DEA schedule 1 registration authorization to undertake these trials. After seven hard years of waiting, the MMJ group of firms can finish their mission of performing clinical studies on Huntington’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis. MMJ has received FDA Orphan Designation for its Huntington’s disease clinical trials.
The measure explicitly authorizes the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to adopt specific procedures to register;
- Practitioners to conduct marijuana research and
- Producers supply marijuana for the research.
The measure authorizes MMJ businesses to possess, manufacture, sell, or dispense cannabidiol (CBD) or marijuana (THC) for medical research purposes. The measure also states that the US attorney general will have 2 months to approve or request additional data from the cannabis research applicant. It also makes it easier for MMJ researchers to obtain more significant amounts of cannabis.
The company’s CEO, Dr. Elio Mariani, claimed, “In the instance of MMJ, the company is developing a soft gel pill to treat the symptoms of Huntington’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis. Other researchers could potentially use the gel capsule composition in clinical trials “.
The DEA MOA has been issued, and MMJ is on pace to earn a vertically integrated Schedule 1 cannabis production and cultivation license. The firm is also nearing the completion of its state-of-the-art marijuana center of excellence in Rhode Island. The MOA specifies how the firm plans to conduct business with the DEA when a few minor changes are made following the DEA’s requirements and the final registration is approved.
“These permits fall under severe DEA monitoring and require stringent regulations of operation, all of which MMJ has met,” said Jorge Jimenez, MMJ’s head of regulatory compliance. This year, MMJ was granted a schedule 1 analytical lab license. MMJ has teamed with the University of Connecticut since Schedule 1 licenses are generally issued to cultivators linked with an academic institution for research and development.
“MMJ is committed to furthering its research and development through a method that is in accordance with the government’s aim to prioritize public health, support innovation, and promote customer trust,” commented Duane Boise.
MMJ International Holdings Milestones
MMJ International Holdings recently secured a DEA license to import its proprietary cannabis extracts into the United States for possible cures for Multiple Sclerosis and Huntington’s Disease. After a significant amount of effort, the team has reached vital milestones, which include:
- Identified unique cannabis strains for high levels of CBD and THC.
- All necessary testing on dried and raw plant “buds” was completed following the FDA Botanical Drug Development Guidance.
- Developed a unique extraction method to maximize the levels of both THC and CBD
- Analyzed every component present in the extracts for other plant extracts and endocannabinoids.
- Chemical and physical stability data for every extract have been established (THC and CBD)
- Received DEA approval to import extracts from non-US countries to the US.
- Contract with a pharmaceutical business to formulate soft gelatin capsules with a predetermined THC/CBD ratio for phase 2 and 3 clinical trials.
- MMJ BioPharma Cultivation has completed arrangements with a sovereign Native American Indian country for a DEA-approved “grow” of the marijuana plant for pharmaceutical, academic, and research companies.
- The FDA granted Orphan Drug Approval for their patented soft gelatin dose formulation having a set ratio of THC and CBD for the clinical research of Huntington’s Chorea.
Conclusion
MMJ acknowledges the public’s interest in cannabis-derived and cannabis substances. The MMJ team is working hard to fill information gaps about their products’ chemistry, quality, and safety. “We are committed to developing our cannabis cultivation, lab formulations, and clinical studies in accordance with our purpose of prioritizing public health, fostering innovation, and promoting customer trust,” Duane Boise stated.
Business
New Mexico cannabis operator fined, loses license for alleged BioTrack fraud
New Mexico regulators fined a cannabis operator nearly $300,000 and revoked its license after the company allegedly created fake reports in the state’s traceability software.
The New Mexico Cannabis Control Division (CCD) accused marijuana manufacturer and retailer Golden Roots of 11 violations, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Golden Roots operates the The Cannabis Revolution Dispensary.
The majority of the violations are related to the Albuquerque company’s improper use of BioTrack, which has been New Mexico’s track-and-trace vendor since 2015.
The CCD alleges Golden Roots reported marijuana production only two months after it had received its vertically integrated license, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Because cannabis takes longer than two months to be cultivated, the CCD was suspicious of the report.
After inspecting the company’s premises, the CCD alleged Golden Roots reported cultivation, transportation and sales in BioTrack but wasn’t able to provide officers who inspected the site evidence that the operator was cultivating cannabis.
In April, the CCD revoked Golden Roots’ license and issued a $10,000 fine, according to the news outlet.
The company requested a hearing, which the regulator scheduled for Sept. 1.
At the hearing, the CCD testified that the company’s dried-cannabis weights in BioTrack were suspicious because they didn’t seem to accurately reflect how much weight marijuana loses as it dries.
Company employees also poorly accounted for why they were making adjustments in the system of up to 24 pounds of cannabis, making comments such as “bad” or “mistake” in the software, Albuquerque Business First reported.
Golden Roots was fined $298,972.05 – the amount regulators allege the company made selling products that weren’t properly accounted for in BioTrack.
The CCD has been cracking down on cannabis operators accused of selling products procured from out-of-state or not grown legally:
- Regulators alleged in August that Albuquerque dispensary Sawmill Sweet Leaf sold out-of-state products and didn’t have a license for extraction.
- Paradise Exotics Distro lost its license in July after regulators alleged the company sold products made in California.
Golden Roots was the first alleged rulebreaker in New Mexico to be asked to pay a large fine.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/new-mexico-cannabis-operator-fined-loses-license-for-alleged-biotrack-fraud/
Business
Marijuana companies suing US attorney general in federal prohibition challenge
Four marijuana companies, including a multistate operator, have filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in which they allege the federal MJ prohibition under the Controlled Substances Act is no longer constitutional.
According to the complaint, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, retailer Canna Provisions, Treevit delivery service CEO Gyasi Sellers, cultivator Wiseacre Farm and MSO Verano Holdings Corp. are all harmed by “the federal government’s unconstitutional ban on cultivating, manufacturing, distributing, or possessing intrastate marijuana.”
Verano is headquartered in Chicago but has operations in Massachusetts; the other three operators are based in Massachusetts.
The lawsuit seeks a ruling that the “Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional as applied to the intrastate cultivation, manufacture, possession, and distribution of marijuana pursuant to state law.”
The companies want the case to go before the U.S. Supreme Court.
They hired prominent law firm Boies Schiller Flexner to represent them.
The New York-based firm’s principal is David Boies, whose former clients include Microsoft, former presidential candidate Al Gore and Elizabeth Holmes’ disgraced startup Theranos.
Similar challenges to the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) have failed.
One such challenge led to a landmark Supreme Court decision in 2005.
In Gonzalez vs. Raich, the highest court in the United States ruled in a 6-3 decision that the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution gave Congress the power to outlaw marijuana federally, even though state laws allow the cultivation and sale of cannabis.
In the 18 years since that ruling, 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized adult-use marijuana and the federal government has allowed a multibillion-dollar cannabis industry to thrive.
Since both Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice, currently headed by Garland, have declined to intervene in state-licensed marijuana markets, the key facts that led to the Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling “no longer apply,” Boies said in a statement Thursday.
“The Supreme Court has since made clear that the federal government lacks the authority to regulate purely intrastate commerce,” Boies said.
“Moreover, the facts on which those precedents are based are no longer true.”
Verano President Darren Weiss said in a statement the company is “prepared to bring this case all the way to the Supreme Court in order to align federal law with how Congress has acted for years.”
While the Biden administration’s push to reschedule marijuana would help solve marijuana operators’ federal tax woes, neither rescheduling nor modest Congressional reforms such as the SAFER Banking Act “solve the fundamental issue,” Weiss added.
“The application of the CSA to lawful state-run cannabis business is an unconstitutional overreach on state sovereignty that has led to decades of harm, failed businesses, lost jobs, and unsafe working conditions.”
Business
Alabama to make another attempt Dec. 1 to award medical cannabis licenses
Alabama regulators are targeting Dec. 1 to award the first batch of medical cannabis business licenses after the agency’s first two attempts were scrapped because of scoring errors and litigation.
The first licenses will be awarded to individual cultivators, delivery providers, processors, dispensaries and state testing labs, according to the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC).
Then, on Dec. 12, the AMCC will award licenses for vertically integrated operations, a designation set primarily for multistate operators.
Licenses are expected to be handed out 28 days after they have been awarded, so MMJ production could begin in early January, according to the Alabama Daily News.
That means MMJ products could be available for patients around early March, an AMCC spokesperson told the media outlet.
Regulators initially awarded 21 business licenses in June, only to void them after applicants alleged inconsistencies with how the applications were scored.
Then, in August, the state awarded 24 different licenses – 19 went to June recipients – only to reverse themselves again and scratch those licenses after spurned applicants filed lawsuits.
A state judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Chicago-based MSO Verano Holdings Corp., but another lawsuit is pending.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/alabama-plans-to-award-medical-cannabis-licenses-dec-1/
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