Brazilian biologist Rodrigo Moura Neto inspects a plant in his laboratory at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in Rio de Janeiro, June 23, 2023 (AFP/CARL DE SOUZA)
Its scholarly name, Trema micrantha blume, is a bit off-putting. But since a Brazilian biologist isolated cannabidiol, CBD, in this plant from the Americas often considered a weed, the curiosity it arouses is immense.
CBD, increasingly used to treat conditions such as epilepsy, chronic pain or anxiety, is one of the main active compounds in cannabis, along with tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, its banned mind-altering substance.
This discovery raises the possibility of an abundant new source of CBD that would not face the legal and regulatory hurdles of cannabis which remains banned in many countries, including Brazil.
“With a plant (containing CBD but) without THC, we thus avoid all the problems linked to psychotropic substances”, judges Rodrigo Moura Neto, the biologist who first isolated cannabidiol in “Trema”.
“This means that the potential is enormous,” he told AFP in his laboratory on a university campus in Rio de Janeiro.
Professor Moura Neto, 66, including decades of public research in this modest laboratory, now has a busy schedule of meetings with patent experts and companies eager to exploit the market for CBD, which amounts to billions of dollars.
Brazilian biologist Rodrigo Moura Neto inspects a plant in his laboratory at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in Rio de Janeiro, June 23, 2023 (AFP/CARL DE SOUZA)
A study carried out last year by market analysis company Vantage Market Research estimated the global CBD market at nearly $5 billion (4.5 billion euros) and forecasts it to reach more than 47 billion dollars (43 billion euros) by 2028, mainly due to its derivatives for health and well-being.
Professor Moura Neto’s team of 10 researchers recently obtained a public grant of 500,000 reais (95,000 euros) to now identify the best methods for extracting CBD from the tiny flowers of the “Trema”, then study its effectiveness as a substitute. to medical marijuana.
“A lot of companies are calling, looking to collaborate” on a possible cannabis-free CBD drug, says lab director Rosane Silva. The interest has been “huge”, she says, standing next to what she calls the “magic plant”.
A member of the Cannabaceae family, like cannabis, the “Trema” can become a tree up to 20 meters high.
– NO SMOKING –
Trained in forensic genetics, Rodrigo Moura Neto began studying CBD as he analyzed the DNA of marijuana seized by police to help investigators trace its source.
Brazilian biologist Rodrigo Moura Neto separates the fruits and flowers of a plant at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in Rio de Janeiro on June 23, 2023 (AFP/CARL DE SOUZA)
It was when he came across a study that identified CBD in a related plant in Thailand, also a member of the Cannabaceae family, that he had the idea of trying to isolate it in “Trema”.
He says it will take five to ten years of research and clinical trials to turn his as yet unpublished findings into a market-ready drug, if at all possible.
Cannabis, first domesticated in China more than 10,000 years ago, has been cultivated for millennia and scientifically studied for only a few decades to refine its therapeutic properties and understand its effects on the brain.
But the CBD contained in the “Trema” may not work as well as hoped, if at all, warns Mr. Moura Neto, also recalling with a smile that there is no point in smoking the plant: “It does not will do absolutely nothing to you.”
The therapeutic effectiveness of CBD is still the subject of much research. The compound is controversial, especially in Brazil where even the cultivation of medical marijuana is illegal. Patients often have to import it at exorbitant prices and have gone to court to obtain the right to use it.
In France, the sale of CBD has been authorized since 2021.
© 2023 AFP
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