Denver Cannabis Company Expands Alzheimer’s Research

Denver is expanding Alzheimer’s research through the efforts of local company MedPharm.

The company plans to advance its research efforts through special Schedule I researcher licenses specifically granted to the company by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

“We are interested in how cannabinoids affect the nervous system and the brain, and Alzheimer’s disease in particular,” said Dr. Tyrell Towle, Director of Chemistry and Extraction at MedPharm.

Towle hopes that through their work and research, MedPharm researchers will discover which cannabinoids can be helpful in preventing Alzheimer’s disease or treating symptoms. This is the first time a research license has been granted for this type of work outside of state and city research licenses to study cannabis.

“When you talk about doing an actual clinical trial, you need a variety of people to participate, and a state just doesn’t have the diversity it needs,” said Towle.

Denver Company Advances With Research License

Thanks to the new DEA research license, MedPharm can now offer investigational drugs for clinical studies nationwide. You will also be able to collaborate with other laboratories on your research and possibly even apply for government grants.

“The doors are wide open at this point,” said Dr. Duncan Mackie, director of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.

In fact, this change shows that researchers can dive deeper than ever by studying different types of cannabis compounds and how they affect different brain cells or not.

“We can now look at pretty much anything that comes out of the plant using the same mechanisms that we would do in drug discovery at a large pharmaceutical company, which was never allowed,” said Mackie.

It took MedPharm years to get the license, but the hard work isn’t quite done for the ambitious Denver-based cannabis company. You must now prove that you are using it sensibly and sensibly.

“[It means] better research, and that research will lead to better treatments with fewer side effects, ”said Towle.

Despite all the freedom of research that the company now has, there are also some considerations and disadvantages. The license only allows MedPharm to conduct cannabis research broadcast through certain channels approved by the government and the DEA. To save time and money, they hope to eventually get a mass production license so researchers can test their own products.

Denver-based MedPharm is driving research

This is not the first time MedPharm has been known for groundbreaking research. In 2020, the company received the first cannabis research license in Colorado for research into dementia. That same year it was also approved by the City of Denver to conduct medical research.

“The possibilities are endless with the first of hopefully many medical marijuana research and development licenses issued in Denver,” said Ashley Kilroy, executive director of the Denver Excise and Licenses Department, in a statement in 2020 when the state license was granted. “Our hope is that this new license type will result in effective treatments for cancer, Alzheimer’s and other debilitating diseases, so that the full promise of legalized marijuana can be fulfilled.”

Through these grants, they conducted studies that lead to a better understanding of cannabis and dementia.

“In the first study we will have 30 patients with several forms of dementia,” said CEO Albert Gutierrez. “Participants are divided into three groups – placebo, cannabinoids only, and premium product. […] We will perform brain scans and blood samples throughout the study to monitor improvements in cognition, memory, behavior, decision-making and interaction with nurses. “

Today, as then, the company has the opportunity to expand its research and reach even further.