Article Excerpt:
TWST: What is Pharmos Corporation?Mr. Rubino: Right now, Pharmos is in the process of completing an acquisition, but its strongest heritage is its technology in the cannabinoid category. Cannabinoid technology is becoming a very promising area for drug development. In particular, Pharmos' strength is in the CB2-selective cannabinoid area targeting pain, autoimmune, and inflammation-related indications. We have just started our Phase II trial with the leading drug in the world in the CB2 category, Cannabinor. We also have a series of follow-on compounds that are even more powerful than Cannabinor, and then we have a scaffold of CB2 molecules. So that's the stake in the ground on the company's core technology. At this present time, we are hoping to conclude by the end of the summer a major acquisition. The company has embarked on a transformational plan, with the intention of not only enhancing its later stage portfolio, but of also infusing additional talent into the company. We are in the process of acquiring Vela Pharmaceuticals from Ewing, New Jersey. They are a private company that specializes in CNS- based drugs. They are bringing to us a lead compound called dextofisopam for irritable bowel syndrome, which provides relief for either diarrhea- predominant or alternating-type IBS. This is the lead compound in this field, in terms of its place and development. They also bring two other compounds. One is another IBS pre-clinical drug called tianeptine. The other is an interesting compound called VPI-013, which is a drug that has demonstrated potential effectiveness for female sexual dysfunction, mostly related to libido. The history of Pharmos is close to 15 years. It started as a delivery system company and became public through a reverse merger when it got involved with ophthalmology drugs and made an agreement with Bausch and Lomb. But for the better part of the last 10 years, we have really put our stake in the ground in the whole cannabinoid research area. We have about 40 scientists in Israel, and they have pretty much been dedicated to the science and the understanding of the receptors. The CB1 area is fairly well known. CB1 agonists, or early drugs like Cesamet and Marinol, are drugs that are used for areas such as nausea and vomiting, or getting people to eat, such as for AIDS wasting, but they have fairly difficult CNS side effects. The next phase in the CB1 area is the CB1 antagonist. Sanofi- Aventis has the lead drug there. It is a very interesting compound for weight loss, obesity, and cholesterol reduction. The tide around the cannabinoids in the industry is very high and we have expertise in both CB1 agonist and antagonist science because we know the field well. But we have made a business decision to target the CB2 receptor site. And that is why I mentioned earlier that we have the lead compound in the world that's now in the clinic, Cannabinor. So when you combine Pharmos and Vela, the result is a rich pipeline of both early and later stage compounds. It gives us new opportunities in drug development as well as out licensing, or partnerships and alliances.
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