Anebulo Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ANEB) has been awarded the first tranche of a two-year, $1.9 million NIDA grant to develop intravenous selonabant for treating acute cannabis-induced toxicity, including CNS depression in children. The initial award of $0.9 million and subsequent $1 million, are subject to certain milestones.
Richie Cunningham, CEO of Anebulo said, “This important grant from NIDA recognizes the progress we have already made with the successful Phase 2 proof of concept study of oral selonabant and provides further momentum for advancing the intravenous formulation towards clinical testing.”
In another statement, Kenneth Cundy, Ph.D., CSO of Anebulo, explained, “Acute cannabis exposure in children represents a potentially life-threatening condition that can result in CNS depression, respiratory depression, coma, and in rare cases death. Research has shown that children are much more sensitive to the toxic effects of cannabis. Younger children have an underdeveloped endocannabinoid system with significantly more of the primary cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) receptors present in their brains. As a direct consequence, pediatric cannabis ingestion can result in much more serious outcomes than in adults, and a much greater risk of hospitalization and admission to intensive care.”
