St. Anne's University Hospital Brno (FNUSA) started building its own cannabis research plant in Brno. Facility will be used by researchers from the International Clinical Research Center (FNUSA-ICRC) who are researching medical cannabis.
The cannabis research plant is the basic infrastructure of the Cannabis Research Center (CRC). According to experts from FNUSA-ICRC, this is a comprehensive research of cannabis, from the study of genetics, constituents to new applications in the treatment of various diseases. "Production alone will not be the only use of the growing room. The created technology will make it possible to study external factors such as light, temperature and others in influencing the production of the plants themselves and their yield - for example, cannabinoids, which are naturally produced by the plant," said MVDr. Václav Trojan, Ph.D., head of the Clinical-Pharmacological Unit of FNUSA-ICRC, added that more than 140 cannabinoids are described in the plant today, which are not subject to any regulation (unlike THC).
"There is huge scope for research for many years to come. The use of not only individual cannabinoids, but also the whole extract still raises many questions that need to be answered. And, of course, to strengthen or refute the arguments and clear data for the treatment of patients with different diagnoses. The treatment of patients itself is the final part of the whole research plan, which consists in the study of genetics, constituents, testing of substances on cell models or the study of technological processes of preparation of various dosage forms. By the way, we have completed the first clinical study with Czech medical cannabis, its results will be published in the coming months, here I can perhaps reveal that our patients will get a clear answer, what about medication and the ability to drive."
The growing room should be completed in the middle of this year, after which scientists will start growing medical cannabis, making the International Clinical Research Center of St. Anne's University Hospital Brno very unique in the field of cannabis research. "I dare say that we are the first in the world with a connection to very precise technology of the growing room, produced material in medical quality, using and connecting to other FNUSA-ICRC teams, but also directly to the clean pharmacy of the Clinical Pharmacology Unit and itself. All with ISO quality system assurance. This will also create an ideal environment for the implementation of clinical trials using healthy volunteers or patients," said MVDr. Václav Trojan.
St. Anne's University Hospital Brno is located near the place where the founder of genetics Gregor Johann Mendel lived and conducted his experiments and observations. „Next year marks 200 years since his birth, he himself mentions in his writings a plant called Cannabis gigantea. Therefore, growing cannabis in a hospital is actually a continuation of the legacy of the father of genetics Mendel, who himself worked partly at FNUSA," added MVDr. Václav Trojan.
