Gb Sciences, Inc. (“GbS”; OTCQB:GBLX), a leading plant-inspired research and biopharmaceutical drug development company, has initiated new preclinical studies at the National Research Council of Canada (“NRC”) through GbS’ Canadian subsidiary, GbS Global Biopharma, Inc. The NRC will test GbS’ proprietary, psychotropic plant-based formulas for the treatment of depression and anxiety. GbS has leveraged its patent-pending PhAROS™ (Phytomedical Analytics for Research Optimization at Scale) platform to identify these combinations of plant compounds for novel drug candidates to treat depression and anxiety. These are the company’s first non-cannabis formulations to enter preclinical studies.
The PhAROSTM platform is a revolutionary, AI-driven science gateway and virtual research environment for drug discovery. With its data analytics and machine learning capabilities, PhAROS™ allows Gb Sciences to greatly reduce the time and money required to bring novel, plant-inspired formulations to market. PhAROS™ represents a breakthrough combination of data sciences and traditional plant-based medicines.
“Using AI pushes biomedical research forward past simplistic approaches to drug design because computer modeling of complex human diseases allows for the identification of suitably complex, multi-ingredient treatments,” said Dr. Andrea Small-Howard, Gb Sciences’ President and Chief Science Officer. “Our PhAROS™ platform yields numerous concrete, potentially-effective, plant-inspired combination drugs. This now includes formulations designed to help the millions of people around the world who are affected by depression and anxiety.”
For these novel psychotropic drug candidates, the Gb Sciences research team used the PhAROS™ platform to identify new ingredients to improve upon an initial formulation for anxiety based on traditional medicine. The original plant mixture was derived from the kava plant, but some elements of kava are thought to cause liver toxicity. PhAROS™ identified ingredients from the Piper plant family as a substitute for the functionality of the ingredients in question without the potentially adverse safety profiles of those original ingredients. The Piper plant family includes pepper plants that are used worldwide in traditional medicines.
GbS’ new psychotropic formulations are currently in preclinical trials at the Zebrafish Toxicology, Genomics and Neurobiology Lab at the NRC, led by Dr. Lee Ellis, Research Officer and Team Lead. The ongoing work between the NRC and Gb Sciences has produced strong and applicable data for the evaluation of its therapies, and this trial could provide novel treatment options for patients with depression and anxiety.
