COSTA MESA, Calif., March 18, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NEMUS Bioscience, Inc. (OTCQB: NMUS) announced today that the company would begin studies concerning the medical utility of cannabinoids as anti-infective therapeutics. The initial studies will be performed at the University of Mississippi (UM), a NEMUS strategic collaborative partner and a global leader in the chemistry and science of cannabinoids and botanicals.
"While the company remains focused on bringing forward our leading candidate molecule, a pro-drug of THC, for the management of glaucoma, the anti-infective potential of botanicals, especially the cannabinoids, should not be ignored," stated John Hollister, NEMUS' CEO. "We are launching these initial studies to assess our target molecule portfolio against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)."
"MRSA has proven to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world, with the incidence in the United States showing a rise in community-acquired versus healthcare-acquired disease," reports Brian Murphy, MD, MPH, NEMUS' CMO. "The NEMUS anti-infective program will explore the use of unique cannabinoid-based therapies to help treat bacterial, viral, and parasitic infections and conditions. To begin, we will focus solely on MRSA and the potential of these compounds to prevent systemic infection among patients colonized with the antibiotic-resistant form of this bacteria."
"Botanicals have been a significant source of therapeutic products and it is time to bring cannabis-derived medications forward that may have the potential to eliminate infective threats - especially those that have developed resistance to our current therapies," said Larry Walker, director of the National Center for Natural Products Research at the University of Mississippi.
"Ole Miss looks forward to the development process and partnering proprietary technologies with our development partner, NEMUS," said Mahmoud ElSohly, NCNPR research professor and a leading global expert on cannabinoid chemistry. "There are more than 100 compounds that can be derived from the cannabis plant, and we are excited to explore medical uses for these purified molecules."
"We look to complete in vitro testing early this year and progress to formulation and animal testing thereafter where applicable," stated Dr. Murphy. "There is an urgent medical need for newer agents to treat resistant organisms and NEMUS is looking to leverage the antimicrobial capacity of cannabinoids to meet these threats."
NEMUS Bioscience and the University of Mississippi entered into a research and in-licensing collaboration agreement in 2014.
ABOUT NEMUS BIOSCIENCE, INC.
The Company is a biopharmaceutical company, headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of cannabis-based therapeutics for significant unmet medical needs in global markets. Utilizing certain proprietary technology licensed from the University of Mississippi, NEMUS is working to develop novel ways to deliver cannabis-based drugs for specific indications, with the aim of optimizing the clinical effects of such drugs, while limiting the potential adverse events. NEMUS's strategy will explore the use of natural and synthetic compounds, alone or in combination. The Company is led by a highly qualified team of executives with decades of biopharmaceutical experience and significant background in early-stage drug development.
For more information, visit www.nemusbioscience.com.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
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ABOUT MRSA
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterium that is resistant to many antibiotics. In the community, most MRSA infections are skin infections. In medical facilities, MRSA causes life-threatening bloodstream infections, pneumonia and surgical site infections. The yearly number of deaths related to MRSA have now eclipsed those associated with AIDS and recent studies have placed the annual societal economic burden just from the community-acquired form of this disease to be in excess of $13 billion.