Nemus Bioscience, has signed a licensing agreement with the University of Mississippi (UM) for a platform of cannabinoid-based molecules (UM5070) for potential anti-infective use against bacteria, viruses, and fungi. The agreement culminates roughly one year of screening and target molecule identification studies especially focused on therapy-resistant infectious organisms like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Brian Murphy, M.D., M.B.A., Nemus, chief executive officer and chief medical officer, with expertise in infectious diseases commented, "Resistance to anti-infective therapies is a growing global health crisis that has significant impact for patients and their families, as well as society in the form of increased health-care management budgets to control the spread of these diseases. In addition to MRSA, we have seen a rise in resistant strains of fungi like Candida and Aspergillus, and among families of multiple viruses. While there has been a concerted effort to develop new therapeutic agents, some of these therapies have significant side-effects, cumbersome dosing, and are extremely expensive to manufacture. Cannabinoids offer a class of molecules notable for their safety profile and, through our manufacturing relationships, we believe these can be produced in a cost-effective manner."

"Cannabinoid receptors are located in just about every major organ in the body and are involved in cell-signaling related to the inflammatory response, healing, and even the development of scarring and fibrosis," stated Dr. Mahmoud ElSohly, professor at the National Center for Natural Products Research at the University of Mississippi. "In working with Nemus, we have developed a diverse platform of cannabinoid-related molecules that have therapeutic potential based on different routes of administration and activity against specific infectious organisms."

"This anti-infective platform will constitute the NB3000 series of Nemus molecules and formulations. In addition to developing this pipeline, the company is assessing the potential commercial value outside of the human anti-infective space to include veterinary and the anti-biofilm markets," stated Dr. Murphy. "Given the bandwidth of potential uses, Nemus expects to actively pursue partnering opportunities for these candidate molecules with a goal that the monetization of these assets can be optimally leveraged."