UQ media release | Research establishes antibiotic potential for cannabis molecule

Synthetic cannabidiol, better known as CBD, has been shown for the first time to kill the bacteria responsible for gonorrhoea, meningitis and legionnaires disease.

The research collaboration between The University of Queensland and Botanix Pharmaceuticals Limited could lead to the first new class of antibiotics for resistant bacteria in 60 years.

The UQ Institute for Molecular Bioscience’s Associate Professor Mark Blaskovich said CBD – the main nonpsychoactive component of cannabis – can penetrate and kill a wide range of bacteria including Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which causes gonorrhoea.

“This is the first time CBD has been shown to kill some types of Gram-negative bacteria. These bacteria have an extra outer membrane, an additional line of defence that makes it harder for antibiotics to penetrate,” Dr Blaskovich said.

In Australia, gonorrhoea is the second most common sexually-transmitted infection and there is no longer a single reliable antibiotic to treat it because the bacteria is particularly good at developing resistance.

The study also showed that CBD was widely effective against a much larger number of Gram-positive bacteria than previously known, including antibiotic-resistant pathogens such as MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) or ‘golden staph’.

Dr Blaskovich said cannabidiol was particularly good at breaking down biofilms—the slimy build-up of bacteria, such as dental plaque on the surface of teeth—which help bacteria such as MRSA survive antibiotic treatments.

Dr Blaskovich’s team at the Centre for Superbug Solutions mimicked a two-week patient treatment in laboratory models to see how fast the bacteria mutated to try to outwit CBD’s killing power.

“Cannabidiol showed a low tendency to cause resistance in bacteria even when we sped up potential development by increasing concentrations of the antibiotic during ‘treatment’.”

“We think that cannabidiol kills bacteria by bursting their outer cell membranes, but we don’t know yet exactly how it does that, and need to do further research.

The research team also discovered that chemical analogs – created by slightly changing CBD’s molecular structure—were also active against the bacteria.

“This is particularly exciting because there have been no new molecular classes of antibiotics for Gram-negative infections discovered and approved since the 1960s, and we can now consider designing new analogs of CBD within improved properties.”

Vince Ippolito, the President and Executive Chairman of Botanix, said the research showed vast potential for the development of effective treatments to fight the growing global threat of antibiotic resistance.

“Congratulations to Dr Blaskovich and his team for producing this significant body of research—the published data clearly establishes the potential of synthetic cannabinoids as antimicrobials,” Mr Ippolito said.

“Our Company is now primed to commercialise viable antimicrobial treatments which we hope will reach more patients in the near future. This is a major breakthrough that the world needs now.”

Dr Blaskovich said collaborating with Botanix has sped up the research, with Botanix contributing formulation expertise that has led to the discovery that how cannabidiol is delivered makes a huge difference in its effectiveness at killing bacteria.

The collaboration has enabled Botanix to progress a topical CBD formulation into clinical trials for decolonisation of MRSA before surgery.

“Those Phase 2a clinical results are expected early this year and we hope that this will pave the way forward for treatments for gonorrhoea, meningitis and legionnaires disease.

“Now we have established that cannabidiol is effective against these Gram-negative bacteria, we are looking at its mode of action, improving its activity and finding other similar molecules to open up the way for a new class of antibiotics.”

JOURNAL ARTICLE:

This research has been published in Communications Biology. See journal article HERE.

VIDEO:

Video news release and b-roll package is available HERE.

MEDIA:

H^CK Director, haley@hck.digital, +61 423 139 163 | Dr Mark Blaskovich, m.blaskovich@imb.uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 414 955380 | IMB Communications, communications@imb.uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 405 661856;

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Antibiotic resistance: a matter of time

“Is this just a projection…?”  The narrator of this video asks, as she examines the possibility of a world devoid of effective antibiotics, a most precious resource. Due to “use, misuse, overuse” of antibiotics, a dire future is forecast. It is thought provoking, unnerving – but also deeply motivating to be part of global action to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Here at Botanix, we are committed to developing novel solutions to address AMR through our BTX 1801 pipeline. In World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (#WAAW) it’s encouraging to see this vital conversation gaining momentum too.  Watch the video on Financial Times here

New antimicrobial data and conference presentation

Botanix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:BOT) has today shared a market update and new data pertaining to the BTX 1801 antimicrobial program, which is currently being studied as part of a Phase 2a clinical trial in Perth.  

The new data demonstrates BTX 1801 eliminates methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (‘MRSA’ or ‘Golden Staph’) from human skin explants infected with MRSA. It also confirms synthetic CBD’s novel mechanism of action, where treatment with CBD rapidly disrupts the bacteria’s membrane resulting in cell death.

The latest news was captured as part of a presentation shared by Botanix President and Executive Chairman, Vince Ippolito, for the ASX Small and Mid-Cap Conference today – which features a close-up look at the mechanism of action.

View the ASX Small & Mid-Cap Conference presentation:

The Botanix team is extremely encouraged by this new data and remains confident that BTX 1801 will be a valuable treatment option for the prevention of post-surgical infections, which are often serious and can be life-threatening. Addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains a foremost priority for the Company, alongside the  largest health agencies in the world.

NEW DATA | Time lapse videos – S.aureus treated with synthetic cannabidiol

Botanix Pharmaceuticals released promising new clinical data for its BTX 1801 antimicrobial platform and a supporting presentation today.

The results demonstrate how synthetic cannabidiol kills resistant bacteria quickly and effectively – specifically Staphylococcus aureus (‘S.aureus’  or‘MRSA’ or ‘Golden Staph’), which greatly increases the risks of serious and life-threatening infections following surgery when it is carried in the nasal passage.

The following time-lapse videos clearly show how synthetic cannabidiol kills bacteria by rapidly disrupting the bacterial cytoplasmic membranes in as little as 10 minutes. In both videos, the bacteria are initially surrounded by a green fluorescent dye and exclusion of the dye means the bacteria are alive and well, while uptake of the dye means that the bacteria’s cell membrane has been disrupted and they are dying.

Time lapse video – S.aureus treated with methanol

This time lapse video shows S.aureus treated with 2.5% methanol (negative control) and grown at room temperature on an agarose pad containing 0.25µM SYTOX-Green. Bacteria are happy and rapidly multiplying over the 120 minutes, with no uptake of the dye.

Time lapse video – S.aureus treated with synthetic cannabidiol

This time lapse video shows S.aureus treated with with synthetic cannabidiol and grown at room temperature on an agarose pad containing 0.25µM SYTOX-Green. In contrast to the first video, bacteria immediately start to die, as evidenced by the rapid uptake of dye and disintegration of bacteria.

To learn more about our ongoing clinical research in the area of antimicrobial resistance, please subscribe to receive our latest news HERE.