These 4 marijuana stocks listed below are trying to work along side the pharmaceutical and biotech industry with one purpose to enhance the quality of life for people. But, what if that task were being compromised by the medicines they are developing?
Can Marijuana Help Repair The Damage Opioid Abuse Causes.
Opioids are a commonly prescribed class of medicines that work with opioid receptors in the body to create a morphine-like effect that’s often used to relieve severe and/or chronic pain. In terms of their clinical results, opioids have shown demonstrably positive impacts on reducing pain associated with a chronic disease, and they are a staple therapy for certain diseases. In 2012, some 259 million prescriptions were written for prescription opioids, which would be enough to ensure that every adult in the U.S. received their own bottle.
Unfortunately, this medicine designed to prevent chronic pain is also creating its fair share of pain for users and their families and friends. Opioids are a highly addictive therapy that, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, led to 20,101 overdose-related deaths in 2015.
In fact, the dangers of opioid addiction and overdose-related death have become such a reality that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently requested Endo International take Opana ER, an opioid therapy, off the market. A review of the drug determined that its risks now outweighed its benefits. Said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D.,
“We are facing an opioid epidemic – a public health crisis, and we must take all the necessary steps to reduce the scope of opioid misuse and abuse. We will continue to take regulatory steps when we see situations where an opioid product’s risks outweigh its benefits, not only for its intended patient population but also in regard to its potential for misuse and abuse.”
There’s little denying the growing evidence that opioid therapies present addiction, overdose, and overdose-related death risks. The real issue has been developing new therapies that could replace opioids without all of the adverse side effects while also providing the same pain-relieving effectiveness. Surprisingly, one substance that may have an opportunity to do just this is marijuana, or should I say the cannabi noids that drug developers are using from the cannabis plants.
Four marijuana stocks focused on cannabinoids and CB receptors for pain.
Zynerba Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ZYNE) — Zynerba is an entirely clinical-stage drug developer with only two drugs in its pipeline, ZYN001, and ZYN002, which are targeting a total of five diseases. ZYN001, which is a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) pro-drug patch, is aimed at treating fibromyalgia and peripheral neuropathic pain. It’s also a drug that’s only now moving into early stage studies. The allure of ZYN001, if it works, is that it’s absorbed directly through the skin, thus avoiding first-pass liver metabolism, potentially even requiring a lower dose to achieve the desired efficacy of pain relief.
Cara Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CARA) — Cara Therapeutics’ experimental product portfolio primarily revolves around kappa opioid receptor agonist CR845, but there’s longer-term hope that CB receptor agonist CR701 could push opioids to the wayside. In preclinical rodent models, CR701 wound up reducing hyperalgesia (sensitization of nerve ending to painful stimuli) and allodynia (painful perception of innocuous stimuli) in a setting considered comparable to human conditions. For now, the best we can do is wait on Cara to outline its next steps for CR701.
Axim Biotechnologies (NASDAQOTH: AXIM) — Clinical-stage cannabinoid-based drug developer Axim has more than a dozen indications in its pipeline. Of particular note, the company’s chewing gum delivery mechanism, MedChew-1401 for multiple sclerosis/pain spasticity, and CanQuit O, for opioid addiction, may offer hope for a move away from opioid use. Axim’s chewing gum contains equal parts THC and cannabidiol, the non-psychoactive component of cannabis.
Arena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARNA) — Arena, which may best be remembered for developing weight-loss drug Belviq, has shown promise with APD371, an oral Crohn’s disease pain drug that targets the CB2 receptor. Initial safety and dose finding phase 1b studies found APD371 to be safe, leaving investors to wonder, similar to Cara Therapeutics’ CR701.
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