Benzinga | Dec 15, 2020 07:07AM EST

Can-Fite Receives Israel Ministry Of Health Approval To Conduct Research With Cannabinoids In Cancer, Inflammation And Obesity At Company Discovery Labs

- State-of-the-art in house labs leveraged for cost and time efficient development of high-value cannabinoid assets

- Cannabinoids bind to A3 adenosine receptor (A3AR), which is over-expressed in pathological cells and is the target of Can-Fite's technology platform

- Company has patent pending for cannabinoids in the treatment of diseases through its A3 adenosine receptor (A3AR) technology platform

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE:CANF) (TASE:CFBI), a biotechnology company advancing a pipeline of proprietary small molecule drugs that address inflammatory, cancer and liver diseases, today announced it has received approval from the Medical Cannabis Unit of Israel's Ministry of Health to conduct pre-clinical studies on the effect of nanomolar concentrations of cannabinoid fractions on the proliferation and functionality of cancer, inflammatory and adipocyte cells (fat cells).

This regulatory approval clears Can-Fite to advance its cannabinoid program by evaluating the effect of cannabis fractions at nanomolar concentrations binding with the A3 adenosine receptor (A3AR), the target of the Company's technology, in a broad range of diseases including cancer, inflammatory diseases, and metabolic diseases associated with fat accumulation. Can-Fite's recent findings show that cannabinoids can be clinically effective at minute concentrations, thereby potentially delivering efficacy without the adverse effect seen to occur with high cannabinoid concentrations as evidenced in the scientific literature. Prior pre-clinical studies jointly conducted by Can-Fite and Univo Pharmaceuticals demonstrate cannabinoid fractions inhibited liver cancer cell proliferation via A3AR.

"We are excited to embark on research to advance our cannabinoids program, which leverages our current IP platform, technology, and discovery lab assets to cost-and-time-efficiently generate findings in one of the fastest growing and promising areas in the pharmaceutical space. As a world leader in A3AR, Can-Fite is ideally positioned to identify and develop cannabinoids at nanomolar concentrations to treat diseases effectively and safely," stated Can-Fite CEO Dr. Pnina Fishman.

Can-Fite will conduct the research in its own state-of-the-art discovery labs where it recently developed patent-pending cannabinoid-based formulations and an in vitro biological assay to identify clinically active cannabis derived compounds. The Company's recently filed patent application covers the use of cannabinoids in treating A3AR associated conditions including cancer, autoimmune, inflammatory, and metabolic diseases. Can-Fite's biological cell-based assay will be utilized in the development of pharmaceuticals that use a specific cannabis derived compound to treat a variety of diseases. In addition to benefitting from its assay in the development of its own cannabis derived compound-based therapeutics, Can-Fite plans to market the assay on a 'fee for service' basis to researchers and other cannabis companies worldwide.

According to Adroit Market Research, the medical cannabis market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 29% to $56.7 billion by 2026.

Can-Fite has a strategic partnership with Univo Pharmaceuticals, a medical cannabis company.