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- Clinical cannabinoid company Botanix has started the day 14 per cent higher due to positive results received from its cannabidiol antimicrobial platform
- The results show that this drug has strong activity against the hyper-virulent strains of the Clostridium difficile bacteria
- It can also treat Clostridium difficile in livestock and reduce the vulnerability of current antibiotics
Botanix started the day 14 per cent higher after releasing positive results from its recently cannabidiol antimicrobial platform.
According to the release, the results have shown that a new drug from Botanix’s platform has strong activity against hyper-virulent strains of the Clostridium difficile bacteria.
Clostridium difficile is more commonly known as the inflammation of the colon which can cause abdominal pain, diarrhoea, bloating and blood in stool.
It has emerged as a serious worldwide public health threat and is the most commonly obtained hospital infection globally. Outbreaks can close down entire health institutions and require detailed deep-cleans and disinfections of the area.
“In the United States alone Clostridium difficile is responsible for nearly 500,000 infections and 30,000 deaths annually – at an estimated US$5.2 billion in health care costs,” Professor of Microbiology at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Insitiute Dena Lyra said.
“Because of this, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention recently classified infections with Clostridium difficile among the most serious public health threats that require urgent and aggressive action,” she said.
The study showed that cannabinol was effective in killing all of the major human and animal strains of Clostridium difficile with the strength similar to currently used antibiotics.
It was also effective against the super hyper-virulent strain of Clostridium difficile ribotype 27. This strain is responsible to serious outbreaks of the disease in Europe and North America and has reduced vulnerability to current antibiotics.
It spreads more easily in hospitals because they can resist the typical hospital environments, cleaning and disinfectants.
It was also proven to be effective against riobtype 78 which is usually associated with livestock such as pigs and cattle. It often spreads between animals and humans with no reason yet as to why.
Botanix shares are trading for 24 cents with a market cap of $162.5 million.
