Medicinal cannabis company Bod Australia (ASX:BDA) says its collaboration with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) has identified a potential new solution to help guard against the skin aging process.
In a statement, the company said over the past three years the research collaboration has identified a novel family of proteins found in human cells that could provide antioxidant protective effects when applied to cells topically.
"These proteins were found to be key players in protecting cells and helping to increase both their tolerance (P<0.0001) and recovery (P<0.01) to UV light, along with other sources of oxidative damage when overexpressed in mammalian cells," said the company,
"Additional experiments have shown increased levels of antioxidant activity (P<0.01), and cellular growth and metabolism (P<0.5, P< 0.01), furthering the proteins’ cellular protective effects," it added.
Bod Australia said it is working with UTS on potential option to utilise the protein as a delivery method for CBD and hemp extracts as well as other cannabis compounds.
According to CEO Jo Patterson, “The results of this three year collaboration provide Bod with a fantastic commercial opportunity in both the anti aging market and cannabis markets which are both rapidly growing and ever changing.
"The Company is in the position to develop a suite of products that utilise these novel proteins in combination with specific CBD extracts and other cannabis compounds, allowing for increased optionality over its broader product suite. This will position Bod with an IP protected and patentable product suite building greater value for the total business.
“We look forward to continuing our research with UTS and will update shareholders on all developments as they progress.”
UTS Acting Head of School of Life Sciences, Professor Stella Valenzuela, said, “Our recent scientific discoveries are extremely exciting and promising. They offer a number of new opportunities for translation of our research into products for use in the beauty and health care area. ”