Hemp-Derived Cannabinoids Panel - CannMed 25 Innovation & Investment Summit @medicinal.genomics

Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

Tags: Hemp-Dervied Cannabinoids, Derived Cannabinoids, HDCs, THCA, Hemp Products, Hemp Product Safety

Moderator: Jean E. Smith-Gonnell (@troutmanpepperlockellp)
Panelists: Mark A. Scialdone, PhD (BetterChem Consulting) , Michelle Peace, PhD (@virginiacommonwealthuniversity), Mike Hennesy (@wanabrands9237)

The rapid rise of hemp-derived cannabinoids (HDCs) has created a new space in cannabinoid research and commerce, offering new therapeutic potentials and market opportunities and controversies. This fast-growing sector also faces critical challenges, including significant gaps in state and federal regulations and the presence of irresponsible actors exploiting legal loopholes. These issues raise concerns about consumer safety, product integrity, and the long-term viability of the industry.

This panel unites scientists, policymakers, and legal professionals to provide a comprehensive exploration of the HDC landscape, emphasizing both its promise and its pitfalls. Attendees will learn about the latest research on the pharmacology and therapeutic potential of HDCs, alongside a frank discussion of the risks posed by unregulated products, misleading marketing practices, and inconsistent quality standards.

Learn More about CannMed: cannmedevents.com
Sign Up for Our Newsletter: share.hsforms.com/1oi57oJDnRN-Uqqc9YPByRA20xr2

0:00 Intro & Welcome
0:45 Panelist Introductions
5:20 Farm Bill Loopholes Explained
12:15 Chemistry of CBD Conversions
18:40 Safety & Public Health Concerns
25:10 Youth Access & Vaping Issues
33:00 Regulatory Gaps & State Bans
42:30 Industry Risks & Market Impact
51:15 Federal Legalization & Policy Outlook
54:00 Closing Thoughts & Takeaways

The CannMed 25 Innovation & Investment Summit showcased its first international venue, the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Golf & Beach Resort in Puerto Rico from June 17 - 20, 2025. Since its inception at Harvard Medical School in 2016, CannMed has earned a reputation as the premier destination for cutting-edge research, emerging technologies, and investment opportunities. CannMed 25 continues this tradition with medicinal plant researchers, clinicians and venture capitalists who view this Summit as the industry’s number one showcase for the latest advances in plant-based science, medicine, cultivation, and safety.

Hemp-Derived Cannabinoids Panel - CannMed 25 Innovation & Investment Summit

Chronic Pain: Clinical Strategies for Success in Challenging Cases: Dustin Sulak

Breeding Techniques to Create Unique Genetics with Justin Esquivel

Gene-Editing Frameworks for Advanced Cannabis Breeding - Angel Fernandez

Pyrocannabinoids: An Investigation into Smoked Cannabinoid Isolates - Kristopher Marsh, PhD

What is Thigmomorphogenesis? How Can it be Applied to Cannabis? - Dr. Jose Leme

Custom Cannabis Terpenes, Whats Your Dream Flavor?

How Are Regulatory Organizations Combating Limited Hemp Testing? - Morgan Keefer

$Transforming Cannabidiol: Rational Design of Next-Generation CBD Analogues for Epilepsy -Luke Hodson Luke Hodson presents Transforming Cannabidiol: Rational Design of Next-Generation CBD Analogues for Epilepsy at CannMed 2026, covering CBD analogues, epilepsy treatment, and drug discovery. This work set out to develop a next-generation CBD analogue platform through rational scaffold engineering and targeted derivatization. The structural changes were designed to reduce CBDs major liabilities of CYP inhibition, poor solubility, rapid metabolism, and hepatic concerns, while preserving the key molecular interactions responsible for its antiseizure activity. A central design principle was to achieve higher and more sustained therapeutic brain concentrations, enabling predictable pharmacokinetics and once-daily oral dosing. More than 50 CBD analogues were generated using a scaffold-engineering strategy guided by known metabolic hotspots and physicochemical liabilities of cannabidiol. Structural modifications were selected to improve solubility, metabolic stability, CYP interaction profiles, and off-target safety. Analogues were evaluated in vitro for solubility, microsomal stability, CYP inhibition, hepatocyte viability, and receptor-level safety screens. Lead candidates underwent in vivo plasma and brain pharmacokinetic studies in mice. Antiseizure efficacy was assessed following oral administration across three validated preclinical seizure models. Exploratory hepatic and tolerability assessments supported translational evaluation. In vitro profiling showed that scaffold-engineered CBD analogues achieved substantial improvements in solubility, enhanced metabolic stability, and markedly reduced CYP inhibition across major isoforms, indicating a significantly lower drug-drug interaction risk. Exploratory safety assays demonstrated higher hepatocyte viability, cleaner hepatic biomarker profiles, and reduced off-target activity at cardiovascular, opioid, and cholinergic receptors, supporting a more favorable safety margin. These in vitro gains translated into major in vivo pharmacokinetic advantages. Lead analogues produced multi-fold increases in CNS exposure, up to six-fold higher brain concentrations than CBD, and improved brain-to-plasma ratios, resulting in more sustained and therapeutically relevant brain levels. PK profiles showed markedly lower inter-animal variability, yielding predictable exposure kinetics compatible with once-daily dosing. Improved exposure and preserved mechanistic interactions produced greater antiseizure potency and efficacy across three validated preclinical seizure models, including the MES assay. The optimized analogues achieved robust oral efficacy at lower doses due to higher and longer-lasting therapeutic brain concentrations. Together, these improvements support a broader therapeutic index and validate the scaffold-engineering strategy as a viable route for creating drug-like cannabidiol analogues. Rational synthetic derivatization and medicinal chemistry enabled the creation of next-generation CBD analogues that overcome major drug-like liabilities of cannabidiol while preserving the molecular features required for antiseizure activity. The resulting compounds show improved solubility, reduced CYP interactions, enhanced hepatic and off-target safety, and multi-fold increases in brain exposure with more predictable, once-daily pharmacokinetics. These advances produced superior oral antiseizure efficacy at lower doses and support this platform as a promising route for developing clinically viable cannabidiol-based therapeutics for refractory epilepsy. Learning Objectives: ⦿ Understand how scaffold-engineered CBD analogues improve solubility, metabolism, CYP and safety profiles, achieve higher and longer-lasting therapeutic brain levels, and support predictable once-daily oral dosing with strong anti-seizure efficacy Luke Hodson, PhD, is a medicinal chemist and translational drug discovery leader specializing in cannabinoid therapeutics for refractory epilepsy and neurosteroid therapeutics for traumatic brain injury. His work focuses on engineering next-generation small molecules that overcome poor solubility, rapid metabolism, CYP-mediated drug interactions, and hepatic liability to enable safer, more effective CNS treatments. At Sensa Neurosciences, Dr. Hodson serves as a Senior Scientist in Drug Discovery, contributing to medicinal chemistry strategy, structure-property optimization, and preclinical planning for next-generation cannabinoid therapeutics. This presentation was given at the CannMed 2026 Innovation & Collaboration Summit, held June 15-18 at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort. Visit cannmedevents.com to learn more.$

Synergistic Anticancer Activity of Cannabinoids & Terpenes in Triple Negative Breast Cancer