Cannabis strains indigenous to Colombia might hold the key to fighting gastrointestinal cancers.
That’s why American Cannabics Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OTCQB: CNBX) and Colombian NewCanna Hub announced Tuesday they were partnering up to research the anti-tumour effects of cannabinoids found in the country’s oldest weed strains.
Colombia grows several types of weed known known as landraces, the grandfathers of modern strains. These landraces, such as Colombian Gold, Santa Marta Gold, Mango Biche, Pati Morada and Punto Rojo have adapted to specific environmental and geographic conditions, and have taken centuries to develop, according to a company press release.
According to Cannabics, the Colombian Gold landrace originates in the Sierra Navada de Santa Marta mountains, some of the highest coastal ranges in the world, which helps the cannabis develop high levels of cannabinoids CBD and CBN in its tropical mountain climate.
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Indigenous Colombian cannabis knowledge
“We are excited to partner with Cannabics Pharmaceuticals to study the anti-tumor properties of original Colombian landraces,” NewCanna Hub CEO Santiago Londono said in a statement. “By utilizing Cannabics’ platform, we will be able to unlock insights that have been thus far out of reach. We hope that by repeatedly testing and optimizing, we may be able to successfully craft proprietary cultivars which are targeted to a specific need.”
NewCanna Hub is a multidisciplinary cannabis platform working in cannabis genetics, clinical trials, product development and manufacturing on five different continents. Their research combines modern technology and Indigenous knowledge through a partnership with Cooperativa Caucannabis. The Colombian cooperative is the oldest established cooperative of Indigenous cannabis cultivators, and brings together 1,600 micro-licensed growers.
NewCanna also owns one of the world’s largest collection of legally registered landraces.
Cannabics is a company that develops personalized cannabinoid medicine to fight cancer and treat its side effects, which led them to NewCanna’s landrace collection.
“We aim to continue advancing our cannabinoid compound library,” Cannabics CEO and co-founder Eyal Barad said. “By way of the present collaboration, we will gain access to the building blocks of medical cannabis cultivars today. This is another important step in our cannabinoid profile mapping for the personalization of cannabinoid-based medicine for cancer patients.”
The research will take place at Cannabics’ High Through Put Screening facility in Israel, where the company has a license from the ministry of health to conduct scientific and clinical research on cannabinoid formulations for cancer.
If any of the Colombian landraces are found to affect gastrointestinal cancer, the research will be used to equip cultivators with the knowledge to develop those strains.
Top photo of The Sierra Navada de Santa Marta mountains in Colombia by Taggen via Wikimedia Commons.
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