5 Questions With Greg Gorgas, CEO Of Artelo Biosciences

Biosciences is at the forefront of scientific innovation leveraging the vast potential of the endocannabinoid system to develop therapeutics. I’m always interested in the art of the endocannabinoid system, so misunderstood and because of stigmas that are prevalent in the cannabis world, this essential healing element is almost unknown until recently. That is why you will enjoy this interview as I did. Thank you, Cheers! WB

Warren Bobrow=WB: Where are you from? Did you go to business school? Who is your mentor?  What, or who, was your inspiration? 

Greg Gorgas=GG: Born in Anaheim and for the past three decades, I have been in California biotech. I’ve had the privilege of contributing to the success of companies such as Cetus, Chiron, and IDEC Pharmaceuticals.  Now I have the responsibility of leading Artelo Biosciences. Artelo is at the forefront of scientific innovation leveraging the vast potential of the endocannabinoid system to develop therapeutics. I earned my MBA in addition to an undergraduate degree in economics, both while working full time. I believe in education and am convinced schooling is even more impactful with immediate application. Biotech professionals that are values-driven, passionate, and skilled continue to inspire me and they are shaping Artelo’s culture. My benchmark example is a previous employer, IDEC Pharmaceuticals, which was also largely made up of zealous individuals with a commitment to a shared set of values.  Not only were we very successful at inventing, developing, and ultimately commercializing rituximab, the first monoclonal antibody approved by the FDA to treat cancer, but most of my former colleagues have often referred to IDEC as one of the best experiences of their career.  At Artelo we have several key members of our team with common values from a shared professional experience, including our Board Chair Connie Matsui, who played a key role in leading the culture at IDEC. 

Please tell me about your company? Why the focus on cannabis? What is your Six Month Plan? One Year?

GG: Artelo is dedicated to applying true biopharma rigor to developing therapies based upon modulating the endocannabinoid system, or ECS: a network of receptors and neurotransmitters that form a biochemical communication network throughout the body, originally identified through research on cannabis. Artelo was founded in early 2017 by innovators who understood cannabinoid-based drug development to be a substantial drug development opportunity and wanted to establish a company with regulated bio-pharmaceutical experience and discipline. When I learned about the opportunity, I joined as CEO and chose to co-invest.  Within the first 12 months, we had in-licensed two assets and invented our third. In the next year, we up-listed to Nasdaq, and despite the industry-wide delays due to COVID, we’re preparing to initiate a Phase 1b/2a study with our dual cannabinoid agonist for the treatment of cancer-related anorexia, a large unmet need.

Our lead clinical-stage product candidate, ART27.13, is a small molecule that targets the two main receptors of the ECS, similar to THC.  Unlike THC, ART27.13 is a full agonist, targeting the receptors in the body’s periphery, not the brain, thus potentially avoiding unwanted side effects. In earlier clinical studies ART27.13 demonstrated a profound impact on increasing body weight and we are very excited to lead it into the next development phase. Our second program, ART26.12, is an inhibitor to a protein that can regulate endocannabinoid levels, and lastly, ART12.11 is our composition of CBD, a patented cocrystal. In the next six months, we expect to start enrolling patients in a cancer-anorexia study of ART27.13 with clinical data expected next summer. We also plan to select the lead molecule from our fatty acid-binding protein 5 or FABP5 inhibitor program to take into regulatory enabling research. We plan to have some very interesting research to announce on our CBD program over the next 12 months as well. 

Do you cook? If so, what is your favorite thing to prepare? Who taught you? What’s your favorite restaurant? Where?

GG: When I think about cooking, farm-to-table comes to mind and I am more about the farm than the table. Growing, nurturing, harvesting, and preparing raw food is where I am on the culinary spectrum, including curing olives, keeping honeybees, juicing blood oranges, and making kumquat marmalade.  One of my favorite things to prepare is barbequed belly button peaches encircling burrata cheese drizzled with raw honey. A restaurant favorite is near the walled city of Cortona, Tuscany, the Ristorante Pizzeria Cantanapoli. 

WB: What obstacles stand in your way? How do you propose removing those obstacles? What market do you most want to enter? Why?

GG: This year has certainly had its challenges due to COVID, though not unique to Artelo.  Already accustomed to working in various locations and time zones, we were impacted more by the effects of the pandemic on our partners and regulatory authorities outside the US. For example, at the outset of the pandemic, the NHS in the UK elected to pause the initiation of clinical studies not directly related to COVID.  However, this allowed us to focus on developing a new proprietary manufacturing method which we believe will bring long term value to the program.  And we are planning to start our cancer-anorexia study in the next few months.

The potential therapeutic benefits from modulating the ECS are new for some and we do find ourselves often educating people of the work we are doing at Artelo.  Our scientists have been especially busy writing and publishing articles which we believe will help more people appreciate the potential impact of our product candidates. Cancer and cancer supportive care are a central focus at Artelo.  We have a tremendous opportunity as no other development program for cancer anorexia matches our differentiation or clinical results to date. We also have the only FABP5 small molecule program with the potential to treat prostate, breast, and cervical cancer. Lastly, Artelo has also prioritized PTSD with our CBD program. Sadly PTSD has only increased since the COVID pandemic.  There is a strong scientific rationale for our CBD cocrystal, clearly an unmet and expanding need, and we have good prospects for market exclusivity through 2038.  We go where the science leads.

WB: What is your passion?

GG: I am driven by intellectual curiosity, the desire to architect or create, and the need to have a lasting impact. This has influenced some of my personal hobbies such as oil painting, woodworking, and fly tying. These motivators also led to my role in founding Artelo. Professionally, I’ve had the privilege to taste the shared success of a passionate team and can think of nothing more satisfying for Artelo to achieve than meaningful impact through drug development targeting the ECS.