He recalls: “When I started recommending cannabinoid therapies to my patients, I was considered a heretic.” But when Canada broadened the definition of medical cannabis to include extracts as well as dried botanical flower, Dr. Maida developed and patented his own formulations, and started to recruit patients for his study. He now holds what he claims to be the world’s first patents on Topical Cannabis-Based Medicines (TCBM) indicated for Integumentary and Wound Management. The worst of the worst Dr. Maida runs a tertiary wound clinic in the Toronto area, where he receives referrals of the most severe wounds in southern Ontario. As he explains, “Everyone else’s failures come to me. I get the worst of the worst.” Through his recent study, he was able to subject some of those recalcitrant wounds to his innovations and intellectual property. And according to Dr. Maida, “I’m having results that are just absolutely mind-blowing.” “I’m actually the first on record worldwide to start applying cannabis products to wounds to help with pain management, and now showing that it can heal the unhealable wounds in very elderly and sick patients. I’m literally healing wounds that otherwise people would be dying from or dying with… When I show the before and after pictures, people can’t believe that these results are real – but they are real!” “So if I’m able to heal the worst of the worst, imagine what my innovations can do for everyday burns and scrapes and so forth.” Anti-inflammatory, lipophilic agents Chronic inflammation is at the heart of a non-healing wound. Normally a wound progresses through an orderly cascade of phases from the time of initial trauma until it is fully healed. As Dr. Maida explains, wounds that don’t heal get stuck in the inflammatory stage. “There’s ample pre-clinical information already published that THC and CBD and other elements of cannabis extracts have anti-inflammatory properties. My cannabinoid-based medicines are rebooting the wound out of that chronic inflammatory stage.” “The other thing that made me realize that wounds and cannabis were going to mix is that intact skin is hydrophilic, but a wound, on the other hand, is lipophilic. That kind of tissue can absorb THC and CBD which are also lipophilic. So it’s a perfect fit. This was one of my epiphany moments: that the very molecules that are anti-inflammatory in the cannabis extract are going to be able to be absorbed rapidly into a wound bed.” “So everything is lining up. The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is present in the integumentary system which is the largest organ of the body. And there’s a huge opportunity to activate the ECS through the integument, and promote things like healing wounds and relieving pain from wounds – because when you heal a wound, the pain goes away.” A partner for the next stage At this point, Dr. Maida is looking for a partner to help take his proprietary IP to the next level, and get his products on the market to help millions of people. According to Dr. Maida, much of the money and effort spent on treating chronic wound is in vain. “One of the areas with the worst outcomes is wounds – in terms of pain relief and healing, the results are dismal. We’re spending billions and spinning our wheels.” Until now, Dr. Maida has self-funded the R&D of his proprietary therapies. And he believes that, seeing patients with chronic wounds week in and week out, with no prospect of improvement, was what drove him to make the personal and financial sacrifice, to give his patients hope. The follow-up randomized controlled study is already designed and waiting. At this point, all he needs is a partner with the resources to help launch it. “It’s really what’s driving me – at a time when my colleagues are retiring, I am working on probably the greatest project in my entire career.”
IMO DYOR etc etc Cheers TT
BOT Price at posting:
28.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
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