Committment to Basic Research

Immugen is committed to basic research which we hope will lead to a greater understanding of the cannabinoid class of drugs, and ultimately, to the development of a useful alternative to marijuana for the general public’s need. This should not diminish the perceived good derived from marijuana use, but establish a scientific basis for its use and ultimately provide a route of administration of a non-psychoactive analog which is more predictable and acceptable to the regulatory agencies world wide.

Grant Proposal Award Process

This page will be for the grant proposal award process, which will be described in greater detail as time goes on and funding becomes available. Suffice it to say that Immugen is committed to conducting and supporting research through a grant process similar to other philanthropic and governmental agencies. In addition to an internal review process which will be conducted by the Scientific Advisory Board, proposals can be approached in a collaborative manner similar to that seen in study sections and in the development of open-source software in the computer industry.

Unrestricted Use of  L759,656 and L759,633

Although there are a variety of CB2 specific ligands available for research purposes, most researchers continue to use THC, CP 55,940 and WIN 55,212-2, which are non-selective agonists for both the CB1/CB2 receptors. This contributes little to the development of the cannabinoid class of drugs devoid of psychoactive effects. Immugen has identified two compounds, L759,656 and L759,633, which were developed by Yves Gareau, et al., at  MerckFrosst, Canada, in 1996.  They are non-proprietary in nature but claimed by Immugen for a variety of uses in continuation and continuation-in-part patent applications based on the originally issued patent. Independent studies have established that these are excellent ligands to the CB2 receptor but they have not been utilized in other research to date. Toward this end, Immugen will make both compounds available to the research community without restriction, once we have been able to scale up the synthesis. In the meantime, we encourage our fellow cannabinoid researchers to include these two compounds in their research grant application process, since they are readily available through Tocris Biosciences.  Contrary to popular opinion, they are not controlled substances and will not require the lengthy process required by the DEA to acquire these compounds.