Molecule Shows Anti-Inflammatory Properties

Kannalife, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the research and development of the next generation of non-opioid cannabinoid for medical treatment, recently announced the results of a study comparing their patented compound, Atopidine, with cannabidiol (CBD) for anti-inflammatory use.

Atopidine, the trademark name for Limonenyldihydroxybenzyl Ethoxycarbonyl Azetidine (LEA), is a novel, small molecule that Kannalife says has shown in pre-clinical testing to have protective and anti-inflammatory properties.

The study examined the effectiveness of Atopidine vs. CBD to prevent inflammatory responses from UVB-radiation, according to a company press release. Researchers found that

“Although both compounds were effective in preventing the release of TNF-alpha (TNFα),only Atopidine was found to be effective in preventing the release of IL-1-beta (IL-1β) from human epidermal cells. The current experiments suggest that Atopidine may be more effective than CBD in preventing inflammatory responses relevant to UVB-radiation.”

The company believes this finding is significant in the sunscreen market in which CBD is being added to products for its anti-inflammatory properties.

With the global sun protection and care market seeing significant growth projected to reach $24.9 billion USD by 2024, and the global skincare product market projected to reach $183.03 billion by 2025, Kannalife is hoping to have their molecule available for commercial use by the end of 2020, according to the release.

“We believe our approach to taking the good from CBD and improving on it as a therapeutic is seen in our discovery of novel CBD inspired therapeutic compounds like Atopidine,” says Dean Petkanas, CEO of Kannalife. “Innovation and technology usually improves on nature’s limitations. We believe such is the case with Atopidine™, as a potentially better anti-inflammatory topical solution than CBD.”

Atopidine has not been reviewed or approved for patient use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or other world healthcare authorities and its safety and efficacy have not been FDA-approved.