CBD for acne, for healthy skin

03/09/2021 6 min read

Do you suffer from pimples and pimples? Say goodbye to acne because its a brand new drug - synthetic cannabis.

Are you troubled by pimples and blackheads? Say goodbye to acne, because a brand new medicine is in development - synthetic cannabis.

That, at least, is the hope of the dermatology company Botanix Pharmaceuticals Ltd., which recently announced the completion of a phase 1 clinical study using synthetic CBD (cannabidiol) as one of the ingredients in its new anti-acne product. The so-called “BTX 1503“ could thus, in the near future, become an effective medicine against the much-unwanted acne.

Botanix began testing the product last year in Australia on 20 volunteers. The study tested the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics (the amount of the drug in the bloodstream after use) of this cannabis -based ointment. All study participants used the product for a full 10 months.

“Botanix plans to launch a pilot programme for patients suffering from acne later this quarter.”

Clinical studies as such tend to be expensive, lengthy and uncertain. A phase one study is only preliminary - it decides whether the medicine is safe to test on real patients at all. Botanix managed to complete the first clinical study within 12 months and claims that it was a huge success: “Reliable data show us that BTX 1503 has an excellent safety profile and that minimal to no skin irritation occurs after use. In addition, no serious side effects were recorded during application of the product.”

Furthermore, a relatively small amount of residual substances was recorded in the patients' bloodstream after use. Botanix attributes this to its application method called Permetrex: “Most of the BTX 1503 product spreads on the surface of the skin and is absorbed into the skin.”. This means that only a trace amount of the active substances enters the bloodstream and the vast majority breaks down in the skin.

Why synthetic CBD?

Although acne affects millions of people and is a widely researched phenomenon, there are still very few effective treatment methods that do not cause any undesirable consequences. The effects of cannabidiol, i.e. CBD , in the treatment of acne have not yet been sufficiently researched, but Botanix points to a 2004 university study published in the scientific Journal of Clinical Investigation. The study used samples of human skin from the head and arm to determine whether CBD is really capable of suppressing the symptoms of acne.

The researchers found that CBD suppresses so-called lipogenic processes (the process by which the body stores excess energy in fat reserves) and the formation of sebocytes (cells of the glands responsible for producing the sebum that covers the skin and hair of mammals.) Both of these processes contribute to the formation of acne. The study also found that CBD has anti-inflammatory effects on the skin. It is important to mention, however, that CBD was not tested on humans in this study. That, however, is exactly what Botanix plans to do.

The production of synthetic CBD does not require growing cannabis plants. This is precisely what allows Botanix to bypass some of the regulatory obstacles, which is one of the reasons for its meteoric growth.

Also worth mentioning is Zynerba Pharmaceuticals, which, in cooperation with the research organisation Novotech, is currently testing a synthetic CBD-based gel called ZYN002 in an Australian phase one clinical study. The gel is applied to the skin and its purpose is to treat epilepsy and osteoarthritic knee pain. (More in the article “Arthritis“)

Translation: Filip Maral

Author: Joe Wilson

Source: leafly.com

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