TechforCann Europe is entering into a strategic collaboration with Yissum, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s technology transfer company, and the University’s Multidisciplinary Center for Cannabinoid Research (MCCR).
Europe’s first tech accelerator dedicated to medical cannabis, TechforCann Europe, and the Hebrew University’s MCCR, have today announced the collaboration that aims to strengthen the European medical cannabis tech ecosystem and promote medical cannabis research.
MCCR at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, home to the “godfather of cannabis research” professor Raphael Mechoulam, is the biggest cannabis research centre in Israel and one of the few in the world.
It conducts breakthrough research on cannabinoids, endocannabinoids and medical cannabis, with a focus on cancer, pain, inflammation and stress management, immunity, metabolism, drug delivery and nanotechnology, pharmaceutical chemistry, neuroscience and plant science and genetics.
Yissum was founded in 1964 and serves as a bridge between academic research and a global community of entrepreneurs, investors and industry.
CEO of TechforCann Europe, Lilac Mandeles, commented: “Partnering with such important and world-breaking institutions such as Yissum and the MCCR validates our goal of supporting early-stage IP-based startups from around the world who are solving challenges across the medical cannabis supply chain.
“We are excited to nurture and promote top-tier research that is currently being conducted, as well as offer our startups access to world-leading clinicians and researchers and cut the time to market for these remarkable innovations.”
To date, Yissum has registered more than 10,875 patents globally, licensed more than 1140 technologies and has spun out more than 191 companies. The company’s business partners span the globe and feature major names such as Boston Scientific, Google, ICL, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Microsoft and Novartis.
TechforCann Europe identifies and nurtures early-stage IP based companies with potential for exit/IPO. The hybrid acceleration programme focuses on entrepreneurs who are solving challenges across the supply chain, with a focus on healthcare and biotech, digital health, precision agriculture and new product technologies.
The programme enables participants to reach milestones faster, with less error and expense – increasing valuation and probability of commercial success.
Under the agreement, TechforCann Europe will have access to a pipeline of innovative research projects that will benefit from the acceleration programme and the parties will collaborate for licensing or co-development of new products.
Under the agreement, MCCR affiliated researchers will act as advisory board members, mentors, and potential recruitment candidates for the startups that are accepted from around the world into the TechforCann Europe accelerator programme.
Professor Yossi Tam, director of the MCCR, associate professor of pharmacology, and head of the Obesity and Metabolism Laboratory at Hebrew University, commented: “One of our major objectives at MCCR is to foster collaborations between our own teams and other groups around the globe who are conducting medical cannabis research.
“One of our priorities is a cannabis-based synthetic API which may change people’s lives.
“For example, we have recently completed pre-clinical work with a synthetic derivative of cannabinoid-acid, demonstrating its efficacy in treating obesity, and we have a lot more research in the pipeline.”
The agreement will also see the University’s medical cannabis online curriculum will also be available to international audiences through the accelerator platform.
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