CHICO Ryder was just 10 when he was diagnosed with a rare form of soft tissue cancer.
The debilitating side-effects left him constantly nauseous or vomiting, with fevers, infections and nerve damage to his legs that put him in a wheelchair.
His symptoms were relieved by cannabis oil, supplied by the parent company of Zelda Therapeutics, which now hopes to run clinical trials in Australia.
Aussie co-founder and stem cell scientist Stewart Washer told news.com.au the firm’s work could bring millions into the economy, and it’s just one of many falling over themselves to cash in on what is potentially a multibillion-dollar industry.
While Chico, from Manchester in England, is getting help from Zelda’s parent company in Los Angeles, the medical marijuana debate is heating up in Australia. The Federal Government legalised it in March, and Queensland yesterday introduced laws allowing its widespread use in the state.
The news came just a day after the death of a three-year-old Cairns girl with cancer, whose desperate father was charged and fined for giving her cannabis oil in December 2014.
Last week’s Budget said the Government would allow charges on licences for medical cannabis, with the cash raised going towards regulation.
Stem cell doctor Stewart Washer, co-founder of Zelda Therapeutics, says his company’s work could bring millions to the economy.Source:News Corp Australia
“We’re about getting evidence behind this,” Dr Washer told news.com.au. “Our parent company has treated four to five thousand patients for wounds, burns and sleep disorders.
“Hopefully we’ll export to the world eventually.
“The US let the cat out of the bag early. Australia is more cautious.”
Zelda Therapeutics has a manufacturing agreement in place with AusCann, which grows cannabis in Australia and extracts the vital cannabinoids for treatment.
It is planning clinical trials to back the use of cannabis to treat insomnia, acne and chronic wounds. With insomnia, it’s about making sure they get the right amount of REM sleep; with acne, it means not having to give teenagers birth control or “nasty pills” with side-effects; and with wounds, trials on ulcers could take place in Australian nursing homes, where medical cannabis will be big business as the population ages.
How the drug will be administered is also important. “The Federal Health Minister said, ‘do not make it look like smoking,’” said Dr Washer.
A special access scheme currently means you can get a prescription, but can’t source the cannabis. After proper trials, medical marijuana will be treated in a different way and Zelda Therapeutics will be able to licence their products to big pharma.
Tara O’Connell bounced back from, life-threatening epilepsy thanks to medical marijuana.Source:News Limited
Its competitors include Canadian company Tilray, which is about to embark on the world’s biggest clinical trial of marijuana’s impact on chemotherapy patients, in partnership with the NSW Government and the University of Sydney. Another is MGC, an Israeli company that relisted on the Australian Stock Exchange in March after being bought out by Erin Resources, which makes skin care products and cosmetics in Slovenia using a non-psychoactive extract called Cannabidoil (CBD).
Bendigo mum Cheri O’Connell is one of many who obtains the medicine in a cheaper, faster way. She sources cannabis oil for her 10-year-old daughter Tara, who has a life-threatening form of epilepsy, through Tony Bower’s Mullaways Medical Cannabis in Nimbin, whose pain-relieving tinctures are affordable and available now — but have not undergone clinical trials.
“The problem is, recreational strains are crappy,” said Dr Washer. “They’re bred to be high in THC and nothing else. We know our extracts are better. There are more than 100 cannaboids in these plants. They need to act against disease and not get people high.”
He isn’t too worried about bigger competitors either. “There are so many diseases and so few companies doing what we do,” he said. “We’ve got good contacts.
“We’re talking low-hanging fruit: the easy, cheap trials.” [email protected]
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