DOST chief backs medical cannabis bill

MANILA, Philippines — Legalizing medical marijuana in the Philippines would enable an award-winning company that developed a cannabis-based product to further develop and commercialize it locally, according to the Department of Science and Technology.

DOST Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. congratulated Richard Nixon Gomez and his son Rigel Gomez for winning three gold medals and the Grand Prix 2024 at the E-NNOVATE International Invention & Innovation Summit in Krakow, Poland last week.

The Gomezes’ Bauertek Farmaceutical Technologies won awards for CanCur, PiCur and its Black Garlic food supplement developed with the Mariano Marcos State University.

“In the ecosystem of innovation, you need enabling policies and laws so that the innovation can be produced,” Solidum said at a press conference organized by the DOST and Bauertek.

“If a country is not fast in facilitating the mass production of very good innovation. you cannot stop our innovators from going to other countries,” he added.

CanCur is intended to help patients with epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders and pain management.

PiCur is reportedly a powerful natural antioxidant intended to help stop angiogenesis around tumor cells and help induce apoptosis of tumor cells. It is used for the treatment of breast cancer, prostate cancer, cervical cancer, colon cancer and other common illnesses. 

Black Garlic is intended to help patients with nerve disorders and those with certain forms of cancer.

This year’s E-NNOVATE featured more than 200 entries from 25 countries.

All three gold awards garnered by the Philippine delegation belong to the Pharma category.

“We came in with three entries: PiCur, which is our flagship invention; black garlic, which is our collaboration with Mariano Marcos State University; and also our latest project CanCur, which will be our medical cannabis project,” Rigel said.