Researcher Who Discovered Cannabinoid Acids May Prevent COVID-19 Infection Launches His Own Company

Remember Dr. Richard van Breemen, a researcher with Oregon State's Global Hemp Innovation Center, College of Pharmacy and the Linus Pauling Institute yet more famously discovered that certain cannabinoid acids in hemp can prevent and treat coronavirus infection? 

Dr. van Breeman is now launching his own firm, The van Breemen Company, which seeks to deliver plant-based and natural wellness products to the consumer marketplace.

The company’s Original Wellness Formula based on van Breemen's research and set to be made public this April, will seek FDA approval in the near future. This formula utilizes research conducted by van Breemen. His report - “Cannabinoids Block Cellular Entry of SARS-CoV-2 and the Emerging Variants,” was published in the Journal of Natural Products in January and naturally created quite a stir in the world where COVID-19 remains something of a mystery.

The study revealed that cannabinoid acids in hemp – cannabigerolic acid, or CBGA, and cannabidiolic acid, also known as CBDA have the ability to bind to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which is the virus that causes COVID-19. By binding to the spike protein, these acids can block the virus from reaching into cells and causing infection, concluded the research.

Van Breeman, who holds a Ph.D. in pharmacology and experimental therapeutics, is engaged in discovering botanical therapeutics that have been ignored by doctors and scientists for decades.

J. Stratton Noller, Ph.D., and Jacob Crabtree are additional principals of the newly formed company.

Noller, a pioneer in the agricultural field with 22 years of leadership at Oregon State University (OSU), is the former director and lead researcher at OSU’s Global Hemp Innovation Center, the largest hemp innovation center of its kind.

Crabtree, co-founder and CEO of The van Breemen Company, has extensive experience in the regulated cannabis and hemp marketplace.

Photo: Courtesy of The van Breeman Company