The new subsidiary created by the company aims to create products of better quality to treat different pathologies
On Wednesday, Evogene Ltd., a plant genome company whose shares are traded on the Nasdaq and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, announced it has created a subsidiary that will focus on the development of cannabis products, and made from higher quality leaves.
In a statement, Evogene said it has been evaluating the medical cannabis field for more than a year and has obtained government approval to conduct a research program and to establish research facilities.
The subsidiary, Canonic Ltd., will focus on creating improved cannabis strains, Evogene said in the statement. The subsidiary will use Evogene’s plant genome knowledge and computer know-how for its research, the statement said.
Evogene uses mathematical algorithms in plant biology to find genes that make seeds more resilient, allowing farmers to produce crops with higher yields in a world that is forced to produce more with fewer resources, and as the world population increases and the amount of agricultural land decreases.
The cannabis market is currently estimated at around € 11.5 billion and is expected to grow to about € 21 billion by 2025, according to the annual report on cannabis produced by the Frontier Financial Group quoted in the statement.
Even if the market is growing fast, next-generation products will face a number of constraints, such as the low profitability of plants, resulting in high costs for patients, and a lack of stability, which implies that the products are not reliable for medical treatment, said Evogene.
Evogene’s software can help overcome these difficulties, the statement said. It gives the company a “significant competitive advantage”.
The idea is to create varieties of cannabis with high harvest potential without resorting to genetics, stable varieties of cannabis products with consistent performance and varieties of cannabis to treat specific medical conditions, the statement said. .
The pathologies that the company plans to treat in this first phase are post-traumatic stress disorder, severe chronic pain and cancer.
“The field of medical cannabis perfectly matches both our plant genome activities and our human treatment activities,” said Ofer Haviv, president and CEO of Evogene. We hope that the new subsidiary will move quickly in its mission to develop the next generation of medical cannabis products and to create substantial added value over a relatively short period of time. “
Israel is known to be the pioneering country in the search for medical cannabis. Professor Raphael Mechoulam, of the Hebrew University, started the field in 1964, when he discovered tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main psychoactive substance in cannabis.
This area of research has attracted a number of prominent figures, including former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who last year was named president of one of the largest medical cannabis companies in Israel to lead its global growth strategy; and former Israeli police chief Yohanan Danino.
On Wednesday, the Israeli medical cannabis company Univo said former prime minister Ehud Olmert would join the company as an investor and advisor.
Last year, NRGene, an Israeli startup that uses algorithms to decipher the genetic makeup of plants, announced that it would partner with a Swiss cannabis seed company to decode the genome of cannabis. The ultimate goal is to create stronger plants that better meet the needs of consumers.