CEO Daniel Cohen on COVID, Cancer, Cepharanthine, and More for PharmaDrug
Last month’s interview with PharmaDrug (CNSX: BUZZ) (OTCMKTS: LMLLF) CEO Daniel Cohen was well received, as we focused on some of the company’s May updates. Cohen is sitting with us again at The Dales Report to discuss more news in the pipeline for PharmaDrug, with more of a focus on Cepharanthine and their intent to approach the FDA about the possibility of using the drug to treat infectious diseases.
Here’s some highlights from the interview.
Cepharanthine to treat infectious diseases including COVID-19 a possibility for PharmaDrug
The drug Cepharanthine, Cohen says, has been in use in Japan for over 70 years, and it’s well known to have anti-cancer and anti-viral properties. The main criticism about the drug, however, is that it had low bioavailability. PharmaDrug has a patented formulation of Cepharanthine that has what Cohen claims is about 10 times the bioavailability of the previous formulation.
With the stronger formulation, there was a greater potential for use. Cohen says that Cepharanthine even came out at the top of a study examining COVID treatment potential, though it was testing the old formulation and would not be practical. But the PharmaDrug formulation may have properties that allow it to treat mild to medium COVID and other types of viruses such as SARS and MERS.
PharmaDrug to submit Cepharanthine package to the FDA sometime next month
PharmaDrug originally held off on submitting Cepharanthine, says Cohen, unsure as to how much of a priority it would be in the wake of the vaccines being produced. But he says that despite vaccines that are effective against the current strains of COVID, the US government is allocating considerable funds towards the development of oral antiviral pills.
On top of the purchase of some antiviral pills that are pending approval, Cohen says another 3.2bn is being allocated towards development – “so there’s going to be money pushed towards this sector.”
Cepharanthine may have two different properties that make it effective in treating cancers
PharmaDrug’s current stance is to explore how Cepharanthine might be used to treat esophageal cancer, as that seemed to be the best one to go after for the company. But Cohen says that the drug shows considerable potential as a pill that could stop or kill the spread of cancer cells – and it may also be able to reduce cancer’s ability to resist chemotherapy treatment.
Cohen says that they’re looking at approximately 60 different types of cancers right now to study which one the drug might be able to combat directly. He cannot share any results at this time, but he does venture to say that they have seen some progress on cancers that PharmaDrug had not previously considered. The second phase of trials will take specific cancers being treated with chemotherapy to see if there’s a chance in effectiveness.
Functional mushroom demand “small” right now but strategy to promote awareness coming
In the EU and the US, functional mushrooms are a growing trend but currently volumes are minimal, admits Cohen. He states that a Director of Ecommerce has been hired, and she is currently finalizing PharmaDrug’s tactical strategy for Slimwinkle for the next 3-6 months, to be launched early in July.
DMT research and THC oils continuing
Cohen says that PharmaDrug has an interest in creating what he calls a “center of intelligence” for DMT. The company is continuing to perform research on how DMT works in the human body and their current foray into studying DMT and inflammation in kidney transplants.
In Germany, oils are starting to make their move. PharmaDrug recently struck a landmark deal with a cannabis extractor for medical grade THC oil to be sold under their own brand. The key to success will be to have their own product and their own brand, so they can control how much supply they get, how they get it, and how they deliver it, says Cohen. That will be what’s “game-changing.”
