Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

There is an urgent need to encourage greater risk-taking on creative, unorthodox ideas. Encouraging bold new thinking is critical for solving global health challenges. Support paradigm-changing ideas that have never before been tested and that might not stand up to traditional peer review. Grand Challenges Explorations Grant The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Discovery

In science the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not the man to whom the idea first occurs. Sir Francis Darwin (1848-1225)

National Institutes of Health

"We share your belief that the overall approach may be a sound one, which has not been well-studied to date, and hope that our present trials will provide some initial scientific insights into the potential salutary effects of immune down-regulation that will spur us to continue our investigations in this area. Should that turn out to be the case, we agree that the cannabinoids may be an appropriate class of compounds for further study in this regard." Richard Davey, M.D., Deputy Clinical Director of the Office of Clinical Research, NIAID, The NIH, June 27, 2005 (Personal Communication)

Prolonging HIV Latency

"I have reviewed your research proposal on prolonging HIV latency in latently infected cells. I find your ideas innovative and, as far as I have seen, stand on firm scientific grounds. It could have significant clinical beneficial effects, if indeed, it gets to the clinic." ( Personal Communication: Gallo's Endorsement Letter) Robert Gallo, M.D. , The Institute of Human Virology, Baltimore, MD October 28, 2008

The Dalai Lama

"The central question . . . is how we can make the wonderful developments of science into something that offers altruistic and compassionate service for the needs of humanity and the other sentient beings with whom we share this earth?" ...The Dalai Lama Sharon Begley Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain, (New York, Ballantine Books, 2007) p. 18

Mission Statement

Our mission is to conduct and support medical marijuana/cannabinoid research for the treatment, at affordable prices, of serious and life-threatening diseases to alleviate patient suffering around the world.

Initial Opitimism

"Despite initial opitimism about the potential of combination antiretroviral therapy ultimately to eradicate the virus, few clinicians now expect to lengthen the life of their patients more than a few years before drug side effects and viral resistance undermine the benefits of therapy." Rowland-Jones S, Pinheiro S, Kaul R New Insights into Host Factors in HIV-1 Pathogenesis Cell, February 2001 Vol.104, 473-476. Minireview PMID: 11239405

Activation and HIV

"The close link between immune activation and HIV-1 replication suggests that efforts should be made to protect the patients from exogenous stimuli (intercurrent infections, antigen exposure) to maintain the immune system of HIV-1 infected individuals in as quiescent a state as possible." Wahl SM, Orenstein JM Immune Stimulation and HIV-1 Viral Replication J Leukoc Biol. 1997 Jul;62(1):67-71. Review. PMID: 9225995

Riddle

"Solving the riddle of why immunity is unsuccessful is a high priority, and we should be able to find the answer." Michael Oldstone, "HIV versus Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes - the War Being Lost" [Editorial], The New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 337(18) Oct 30, 1997; pp. 1306-1308.

Reservoirs dog AIDS Therapy

While the growing realization of the importance of viral reservoirs has dashed most researchers’ hopes of eradicating HIV from the body, elimination may not be necessary to manage the disease. "If you could have a therapy that was easy, cheap, non-toxic, not inconvenient, worked without side effects, could work lifelong, but you didn’t eradicate [it],is that OK?" asks Gallo. "Sure it’s OK." Smaglik, P.; Reservoirs dog AIDS Therapy Nature, Vol. 405; May 18, 2000; PMID: 10830936

Medicinal Marijuana

The use of marijuana as a medicine has offered mankind a unique opportunity for the treatment and prevention of a variety of diseases without the high costs of prescription drugs, dangerous side-effects or overdose potential. Immugen's development of non-psychoactive derivatives will expand this benefit to a broader base of patients.

The Jamaican Paradox

Despite the widespread use of marijuana in Jamaica, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is less than 1% of the total population against a backdrop of risky sexual behavior, i.e. discordant sexual partners, teenage pregnancy and the rise in other sexually transmitted diseases.

A Systems Approach

Rarely in nature has a systems approach to disease management been shown to be more responsive to manipulation by a single drug entity than marijuana and related compounds.

Non-human Primate Studies with THC

A recent study demonstrating increased survival of SIV infected monkeys treated with THC was presented at the 28th Annual Symposium on Non-human Primate Models for AIDS in New Orleans in October 2010. The researchers used acknowledged markers of HIV replication and disease progression.

See abstract #41 in Session IV. This is the first study to validate the observation which Dr. Travis made regarding the correlation of the low prevalence of HIV in Jamaica and widespread use of marijuana.

Further studies are being planned to study the effects of THC and/or Immugen's lead compound on SIV infected monkeys prior to the initiation of anti-retroviral therapy (ARV). Treatment with a cannabinoid and ARV will be continued until viral loads are undetectable or 50 copies or less. At that time, treatment with ARVs will be suspended while cannabinoid therapy is maintained. Viral loads will be carefully monitored to determine the interval prior to restarting ARVs if necessary during the one year time frame of the study. With appropriate funding the animals can be kept alive indefinitely to determine the effectiveness of the treatment.