Australian medical cannabis company MGC Pharmaceuticals has signed a collaboration agreement with Israeli device developer SipNose for development of a cannabinoid therapy for the treatment of epilepsy, the company said. The agreement includes an option for a global license for use of the SipNose device to deliver cannabinoids for epilepsy.
According to MGC, the SipNose device allows drugs to bypass the blood brain barrier, and intranasal delivery of MGC’s CBD compounds could also be used for other CNS diseases. The collaborative epilepsy R&D program will be conducted at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel.
MGC Pharmaceuticals Co-founder and Managing Director Nativ Segev said, “This strategic partnership represents our first step towards establishing MGC Pharma’s platform for our medical R&D operations. Our partnership with SipNose also signals our commitment to becoming a leading medical cannabis pharmaceuticals company and accelerates our path to market, along with the cooperation of the Hadassah Medical Center.There is a wealth of evidence available to show that medical cannabis can be an effective solution in the treatment of epilepsy and for this reason we have chosen to work with SipNose and the Hadassah Medical Center to develop a treatment using SipNose’s novel and non-invasive nasal delivery device.”
SipNose Co-founder and CEO Iris Shichor commented, “We have developed a device to deliver medication to the brain in a non-invasive and non-disruptive method. Years of research and development have gone into developing the device and I am delighted to be at the stage where we can partner with pharmaceutical companies to trial the delivery of medication, in this case cannabidiol. The MGC Pharma and SipNose collaboration is a natural fit as our device is well suited to the delivery of anti-epileptic agents to the brain, which can overcome the inherent low bioavailability of medical cannabis treatments.”
Read the MGC Pharmaceuticals press release.
