Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc (CVE:TBP) Discovers Unique Cannabinoid Profiles

Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc (CVE:TBP) (OTCMKTS:TBPMF) (FRA:JAM1) is a cannabinoid-based drug research and development company. CEO Guy Chamberland provides viewers with an update on the company’s clinical trials. The company is examining the full combustion of cannabis and focusing on the medicinal difference between vaping and smoking. Recently, Tetra-Bio Pharma received a patent for its PPP001 drug pellet. Tetra Bio-Pharma’s discovered unique medicinal properties when PPP001 was smoked versus used in a vaporizer. Tetra Bio-Pharma’s research has revealed that vaping creates different cannabinoids profiles. The company is also developing patents for ocular drugs, oral absorption, and a topical program.

Transcript:

Fraser Toms:  We are being joined via Skype by the CEO of Tetra -, Guy Chamberland. Or Guy, sorry I didn’t get a chance to ask you beforehand, is it Guy or Guy?

Guy Chamberland:   It’s Guy. No problem.

Fraser Toms:  Yeah, you’re a Montrealer, is that it?

Guy Chamberland:   Yes I am.

Fraser Toms:  Cool. I’m quite fond of Montreal myself. So let’s dive into your company, Tetra Bio-Pharma, and for those that don’t know, trades on the TSXV under the ticker TBP. In December, you had, I’m just looking at a press release where you guys had successfully concluded a Phase I clinical trial.

Guy Chamberland:   Correct.

Fraser Toms:  Yeah, so just tell us about the trial and what you can talk about that you discovered.

Guy Chamberland:   Sure. Well, basically, we had completed actually in 2018 we completed two Phase I trials, and we had performed a Phase I trial with some cannabis oils, and then we decided to do another Phase I trial with the vaporizer, and the year before, in 2017, we had done an extensive actual study on smoked cannabis for healthy people. So we had looked at what we call all the safety factors, the impact of smoking on lung function, understanding it’s pharmacokinetics, how much is absorbed, how it’s distributed to basically in the body.

And then we also had looked at all the vitals and all of the safety parameters. We repeated that again, like I said, with the vaporizer, and that, for us, is important, because we’re trying to develop the knowledge to be able to eventually to bridge future inhaled products.

Fraser Toms:  Right. Which, that leads me to press release of just super recently, actually, that you’ve filed for a patent application for your PPP001 drug product.

Guy Chamberland:   Yes, that’s correct. So this morning we announced that we have basically filed a patent application in December; we were able to develop what we call some composition of matter. So we discovered that there is a unique, I guess, blend of cannabinoids and terpenes that is smoked, which is completely different from what is inhaled, say, by a vaporizer – using the same, say, source of the drug, which in our case is the PPO1 blend.

Fraser Toms:  Okay, so I guess part of what you’re doing is – well, two things: you’re looking at the difference between vaping and smoking, and what that does, but also you’re creating that blend which is what you’re looking to patent? Is that like, different strains of cannabis, or how does that work?

Guy Chamberland:   Well, it’s a blend that we created that has a mixture of three strains. It gives us a product that has 9.5 percent THC and 2.5 percent CBD, and what was essential for us is we had been studying now for more than a year, basically the full combustion of cannabis and what happens to it.

Basically, in the pharmaceutical world, our drug is actually the smoke or the vapor. So we needed to understand what the composition was going into the lungs of the patients, to understand it. And so today we know exactly what people breathe when they’re smoking, say, the drug – in our case, PPO1 – or vaping it. And it’s two different, how could I say, mixtures of what we’ll call medicinal ingredients. Like you won’t find necessarily the exact same terpenes in the vapour as you do in the smoke and the cannabinoid profiles are different.

So that was something pretty significant, and we understand the whole process of how we were able to create the drug, so we were able to get protection for the manufacturing of the drug as well.

Fraser Toms:  Okay, that’s interesting. So is it because the vape isn’t actually combustible – so in other words, is this something that could potentially down the line be ingested in another form, some other method of intake, or does the vaping actually have an impact on what the patient is getting?

Guy Chamberland:        Well, there’s what we call, there’s two different components. The first component is what we call the volatile organic compounds, so basically everything else than, say, the cannabinoids that you’ll inhale. That is very different, say, between a vape and a smoked product. What we really focused on in the last, say, six months, have been what happens with the cannabinoids: are they all being converted? We’ve talked about decarboxilation, so we studied that, and we looked at the efficiency of delivery, and that’s important to understand how much is actually being absorbed.

So whatever comes into this, for example, whatever you breathe in, is then available for absorption by your body. So we now understand how much goes from, say, the dried bud that was in the drug to the vapour or to the actual smoke, and that we understand today, which is very key. What it’s going to lead us to, which we hinted at in our news release, is we’re working on future generations. Eventually with this understanding, we’re going to be able to create future versions that will be, I’m going to say, very strongly patented and protected for going to the markets as we move towards a more stated drugs.

Fraser Toms:  Okay. And the patent, actually, at this point, applies to a dried bud?

Guy Chamberland:   It’s for PP01 and it’s pellet form, so people understand the process. So there’s a device involved into the combustion process, so now you have two components: the device and the dried bud, and when we combusted it, we discovered some things that I’m going to say were not known about the process, which allows us then to go and protect it.

Fraser Toms:  Ok, so the main point of looking for a patent on this type of thing is more or less the process and its efficiency rather than, let’s say, an end effect on the patient?

Guy Chamberland:   Well, the end effects on the patients aren’t know, so we wouldn’t have been able to get any intellectual property for that. So what we needed to do, we either discovered something, ingredients that were not known to be present in the smoke, or we had to create a process that was basically new and innovation. So it’s a combination of that which we have in the patent, which is very good because now it gives us a very strong protection for this drug.

Fraser Toms:  Okay, great. Just looking down the line a little bit, is the company more or less going to be focused on this PPP001 drug, or do you have other things going on that you’re excited about, moving forward?

Guy Chamberland:   Well we have the whole series of PPs: we have the 002, which is a synthetic dronabinol that we’ve been developing. We have our meetings with the US FDA; that product we’ve developing for CINV, which is chemo-induced nausea, and in there it’s kind of a step-wise, I’m going to say approachable to the market as we target the opioid sparing market as well.

We have our PP03, that’s going to be a very active program in 2019; that’s our ocular drugs. These are blends of cannabinoids, some are controlled cannabinoids and others are not, so we have a series of products being developed for ocular pain, dry eye, and some ocular inflammatory diseases. And then we have our topical program, and then we have also our oral absorption discovery program, which we’ve called the PP05, which has been won.

So you’re going to see the company becoming more and more a pharma as we move forward; as we, you know, target to create more value for our shareholders in our company, and I think the ocular is going to bring this. When we signed on with our partnership with Altis that we announced earlier this year, that’s going to contribute to a more solid, effective pipeline.

Fraser Toms:  Yeah, well Guy, it looks like you guys have quite a different focus than a lot of companies that come on here, so I appreciate that, and 2019 looks pretty exciting for Tetra Bio-Pharma. So Guy, thanks for joining us today.

Guy Chamberland:   Welcome.

Fraser Toms:  All right. There goes Guy Chamberland: of Tetra Bio-Pharma, trading on the TSXV under TBP.

Original article: Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc (CVE:TBP) Discovers Unique Cannabinoid Profiles

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