Canonic Ltd, a company focused on the development of medical cannabis products and a wholly owned subsidiary of Evogene Ltd. (NASDAQ: EVGN) (TASE: EVGN), announced today the pre-launch of its first-generation medical cannabis inflorescence products.
Canonic’s first product line, G-nnovation, is based on cannabis varieties that were selected and developed to express high levels of THC[1] and premium consumer traits. As part of the pre-launch, G-nnovation products will be marketed in Israel to a limited number of licensed patients through Telepharma pharmacy, with whom Canonic recently engaged. Full commercial product launch in Israel is expected in 2022.
The pre-launch follows the successful completion of selection and development of the first-generation G-nnovation product line under Canonic’s Meta Yield product program, the approval of The Israel Medical Cannabis Authority (IMCA) of the product files, and the establishment of commercialization channels. With this, Canonic has completed its end-to-end cannabis value chain in Israel, from seed to product.
According to recent statistics, in July 2021 there were approximately 100,000 licensed patients in Israel that consumed approximately 20 tons of cannabis in the first 6 months of the year[2], with a total medical cannabis market in Israel estimated at $260 million per year[3]. According to industry estimates, based on current growth rates, the Israeli market will reach approximately 250,000 patients by 2025.[4]
Dr. Arnon Heyman, CEO of Canonic stated: “We are very excited to launch our first products in the Israeli market. We achieved this milestone in a very short time due to our experienced team and strong computational biology capabilities. I see this as our first step in fulfilling our vision to become a leading global medical cannabis company. The initial launch in the Israeli market is only the beginning of our journey towards penetration to additional markets abroad.”
Mr. Ofer Haviv, Chairman of Canonic and CEO & President of Evogene, stated: “I am pleased to see that within a very short time, Canonic has built an impressive operation, which we expect will come into full fruition in 2022 with first commercial scale sales of medical cannabis in Israel. This milestone was achieved, in part, by using Evogene’s platform with its unique computational capabilities in the field of genomics, namely the GeneRator AI tech engine.”
About Canonic Ltd.:
Canonic is a subsidiary of Evogene Ltd. (NASDAQ: EVGN, TASE: EVGN), developing medical Cannabis products utilizing a Computational Predictive Biology (CPB) platform. The Company’s products in development are aimed at improving active compounds yield, genetic stability and Cannabis varieties for specific medical indications. The Company’s strategy includes the development of Cannabis varieties in order to commercialize medical Cannabis products independently or through collaborations. Canonic has exclusive access to Evogene’s genomic assets and technology for the development of medical Cannabis products. For more information, please visit: https://www.canonicbio.com/.
About Evogene Ltd.:
Evogene (NASDAQ: EVGN, TASE: EVGN) is a leading computational biology company focused on revolutionizing product discovery and development in multiple life-science based industries, including human health and agriculture, through the use of its broadly applicable Computational Predictive Biology (CPB) platform. The CPB platform, incorporating a deep understanding of biology leveraged through the power of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, has been designed to computationally discover and uniquely guide the development of life-science products based on microbes, small molecules and genetic elements. Utilizing the CPB platform, Evogene and its subsidiaries are now advancing product pipelines for human microbiome-based therapeutics through Biomica Ltd., medical cannabis through Canonic Ltd., ag-biologicals through Lavie Bio Ltd., ag-chemicals through AgPlenus Ltd., and ag-solutions for castor oil production through Casterra Ltd. For more information, please visit: www.evogene.com.
