Kannalife, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the research and development of cannabinoid therapeutics, announced that China has issued the Company, Chinese Patent CN106456573B (the “Patent”) specific to “Novel Functionalized 1,3-Benzene Diols and their Method of Use for the Treatment of Hepatic Encephalopathy,” which further bolsters the Company’s global patent portfolio of cannabidiol (CBD)-like molecules. The Company anticipates receipt of patent grants from the EU and Australia sometime during the first and second quarters of 2020.

Kannalife’s intellectual property estate of CBD-like molecules, which is led by KLS-13019, are capable of acting as neuroprotective agents and have the potential to treat a range of diseases, including nervous system, oxidative stress and neurodegenerative disorders. Under the Patent, Kannalife will further explore the application and potential of new molecular entities (NMEs) across epilepsy, neuropathic pain, traumatic head injury, stroke, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), Post Cardiac Arrest Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy, Epileptic Encephalopathy, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

“Kannalife’s lead candidate, KLS-13019, provides an alternative to cannabidiol throughout major pharmaceutical markets with its proprietary molecule that has improved potency, selectivity, safety, bioavailability, and efficacy,” stated William Kinney, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Kannalife.

The issued Patent is part of the dramatically increasing intellectual property estate of the global WIPO/PCT Patent WO2015/106108A2 titled “Novel Functionalized 1,3-Benzene Diols and their Method of Use for the Treatment of Hepatic Encephalopathy” (the “PCT Patent”). Since the 2015 filing of the initial PCT Patent, the Company has received patent approval across three significant global markets:

U.S. Patent 9,611,213 “Novel Functionalized 1,3-Benzene Diols and their Method of Use for the Treatment of Hepatic Encephalopathy”

U.S. Patent 10,004,722 “Method for treating hepatic encephalopathy or a disease associated with free radical mediate stress and oxidative stress with novel functionalized 1,3-benzene diols”

Japanese Patent JP6486950B2 “Novel Functionalized 1,3-Benzene Diols and their Method of Use for the Treatment of Hepatic Encephalopathy,” and

Russian Patent RU2676475C2 “Novel Functionalized 1,3-Benzene Diols and their Method of Use for the Treatment of Hepatic Encephalopathy.”

“China is an increasingly open marketplace whose National Medical Products Administration recognizes and supports innovative science and medical approaches to expand the treatment options available to patients,” said Dean Petkanas, CEO of Kannalife. “This has further fueled the potential of the Chinese pharmaceutical industry, which rapidly grew to become the world’s second-biggest drug market in 2016 and registered sales of $137 billion in 2018. Looking forward, China is projected to reach half the size of America’s market by 2030 versus the current 25 percent comparison.1”

[huge_it_slider id=”15″]Currently, Kannalife’s leading drug candidate KLS-13019, a CBD-like molecule, is being investigated in preclinical studies for the potential treatment of neuropathic pain. Through extensive research and testing, Kannalife has identified KLS-13019 as a potent, non-opioid alternative to the frontline treatment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN).

Additionally, Kannalife’s application for patent protection of its intellectual property has been accepted in the European Union (EU) and Australia. The Company is awaiting notice from Canada, Brazil and India for notice of acceptance.

About KLS-13019

KLS-13019 is Kannalife’s leading proprietary investigational CBD-like product for the potential treatment of a range of neurodegenerative and neuropathic pain disorders, beginning with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). KLS-13019 has not been reviewed or approved for patient use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or any other healthcare authority in the world. It’s safety and efficacy have not been confirmed by FDA-approved research.

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