Medical breakthrough as cannabis has been shown to kill superbugs and save 10 million lives per year

A surprising drug could become the first class of antibiotics in 60 years to kill resistant bacteria in diseases such as gonorrhea, meningitis and legionella.

Researchers at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland have discovered a new use of cannabis in their global battle to stop deadly superbugs.

Laboratory studies have shown that synthetic cannabidiol, the main non-psychoactive component of cannabis, more commonly known as CBD, can kill bacteria in diseases such as gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted infection.

The research is hailed as a potential medical breakthrough in the world amid predictions that drug-resistant infections could lead to 10 million deaths a year worldwide by 2050 unless an alternative treatment is found.

The research, recently published in the journal Communications Biology, is part of a collaboration between Queensland researchers and Botanix Pharmaceuticals that led to the first new class of antibiotics for resistant bacteria in 60 years.

This is the first time that CBD has been shown to kill some types of Gram-negative bacteria. These bacteria have an extra outer membrane, an extra line of defense that makes it harder for antibiotics to penetrate, ” said director Dr. Mark Blaskovich of the Institute for Molecular Biosciences in a statement.

Researchers also found that cannabidiol is effective in killing superbug MRSA found in golden staph bacteria.

It can also be used to treat infected diabetic ulcers and wounds.

Cannabidiol showed a low propensity to cause resistance in bacteria, even if we accelerated potential development by increasing the concentrations of the antibiotic during “ treatment, ” added Dr. Blaskovich adds.

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

Further trials with CBD formulations are now underway.

“We think we can develop a different version of CBD that can have some systemic activity,” said Dr. Blaskovich to the Courier Mail.

‘We want something that doesn’t break down in the body as quickly as CBD. There is absolute potential that CBD could be a prototypical representative of a new class of antibiotics. ‘

Botanix president Vince Ippolito described the Queensland investigation as a major breakthrough.

“The published data clearly shows the potential of synthetic cannabinoids as antimicrobials,” said Ippolito.

‘Our company is now ready to bring viable antimicrobial treatments to the market that we hope will reach more patients in the near future. This is a major breakthrough that the world needs now. ‘

The pharmaceutical company will now incorporate a topical CBD formulation into clinical trials.

“Those Phase 2a clinical results are expected early this year and we hope that this will pave the way for treatments for gonorrhea, meningitis and Legionnaires’ disease,” said Dr. Blaskovich.

“Now that we’ve established that cannabidiol is effective against these gram-negative bacteria, we’re looking at its mechanism of action, improving activity, and finding other similar molecules that pave the way for a new class of antibiotics.”

Dr. Blaskovich estimates it will take 10-15 years for it to become an approved antibiotic if further trials are successful.