NEW YORK, NY, Dec 18, 2013 — The executives at Nuvilex, Inc. (OTCQB: NVLX) and its subsidiary, Medical Marijuana Sciences, Inc., had to take note of recent results released in a marijuana study done by a group of researchers in Spain. The study used a type of encapsulation to inhibit brain cancer cell growth in mice. These researchers seem to be speaking Nuvilex’s language with the biotech’s recent acquisitions of exclusive worldwide rights to a cellulose-based live-cell encapsulation technology known as Cell-in-a-Box(TM) for the development of treatments for diabetes and for any and all types of cancer.
In the study, the researchers found that the local administration of microparticles loaded with the two major ingredients of marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), reduced tumor growth in a mouse model of human glioma (brain cancer). According to the data, the anti-cancerous molecules THC and CBD used in the study were encapsulated forming microparticles that acted as the drug delivery system to the cancer in the mice.
The small spheres serve as a microparticle targeted treatment system as does the Cell-in-a-Box technology being used by Nuvilex that has undergone both human clinical trials and animal studies in an effort to develop treatments for advanced, inoperable pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, and diabetes. The researchers in the Spanish study noted that a microparticle delivery system offers the benefits of controlling drug release, improving therapeutic effects, prolonging biological activity, and decreasing administration frequency.
The study showed that when microencapsulated THC and CBD were directly administered to human glioma cancer cells grafted to mice, they decreased cell proliferation, decreased angiogenesis (the penetration of blood vessels into tumors which promote metastasis), and enhanced apoptosis (the programmed death of cells). Nuvilex has stated that its subsidiary will attempt to use the Cell-in-a-Box encapsulation technology in its medical marijuana research to develop treatments for some of the most hard-to-treat cancers.
