In an exclusive interview with The Fly, InterCure's CEO and Director Alex Rabinovitch talked about Canndoc and its partnerships, the possible merger with Cellect Biotechnology (APOP), ongoing clinical trials and much more. Here are some highlights:
GMP CANNABIS MEDICAL PRODUCER: Canndoc is an Israeli medical cannabis producer, licensed by the Israeli Ministry of Health since 2008, and focused on pharmaceutical-grade cannabis. "By meeting the GMP standard, we are actually part of the pharma ecosystem, which gives us a very unique access to help millions of patients around the world," Rabinovitch told The Fly. The company is currently conducting R&D programs and clinical trials in genetics. "We have 9 advanced clinical trials – all them in collaboration with leading researchers and hospitals, including an ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of children within the autism spectrum," the executive added. GMP refers to the Good Manufacturing Practice regulations promulgated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
CANNDOC EXPLORING MERGER WITH CELLECT: Earlier this month, Cellect Biotechnology announced that it has entered into a commercial binding Letter of Intent with Canndoc. Cellect will acquire from Canndoc all rights to the use of Canndoc products for the reduction of opioid usage, including accumulated data, as well as ongoing and pipeline clinical trials. In addition, Canndoc will supply Cellect, over the course of the next five years, with a minimum of 6 tons of GMP pharma grade cannabis products with a value of $18M. In addition to the strategic commercial agreement, the companies are considering expanding their collaboration and have signed a non-binding LOI for a full merger. "The Cellect deal that we signed shows the potential in this GMP pharma graded space and by joining forces with Cellect, we will be focusing on this line of product," Rabinovitch noted.
TILRAY PARTNERSHIP: Back in January, Tilray (TLRY) announced a strategic agreement with Canndoc, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Tilray Portugal Unipessoal, to export a wholesale shipment of up to 2.5 tons of medical cannabis from Portugal to Israel. This was the first medical cannabis import allowed into Israel. In addition to the Tilray-Canndoc Israel supply agreement and to further support the Israeli medical cannabis market expansion, Tilray has also agreed to purchase up to 5 tons of GMP-certified whole flower from Canndoc beginning in mid-2020. "It's a long-term partnership, 7.5 years, with exclusivity in terms of all Israeli-related business," the executive added.
SUPERPHARM SUPPLY AGREEMENT: Canndoc also "signed a long-term supply agreement with SuperPharm, which is the leading pharmacy chain in Israel," Rabinovitch said. "We signed a 10 tons deal and this is only for Israel, which has only 8M people." As part of the partnership, SuperPharm will acquire Canndoc's GMP medical cannabis products during a 3-year period.
SURGE IN CANNABIS DEMAND AMID COVID-19 CRISIS: Since the coronavirus pandemic started, Rabinovitch says they have seen a "surge in demand in Europe and in Israel." "I can't explain why but we are seeing it everywhere. In Europe, we are even seeing a shortage in supply. Most of the regulators have stated Canndoc as an essential business so we are fully operating at this time. I would say that with the surge in the demand, we are entering a new reality where logistics are challenging – most of the commercial flights have been cancelled, so local logistics have to be modified to a new reality," the executive explained.
Cellect Biotechnology
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Tilray
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