Irish pharma startup GreenLight Medicines has secured €500,000 in funding to help it research medical uses for cannabis extracts.
The funding is coming from a consortium of private Irish investors and will involve an initial €100,000 seed investment.
In addition to the Irish investment, Swiss-American firm Isodiol is to provide €1.25 million in CBD hemp oil products over a five-year period to help GreenLight in cultivating its research studies within Irish universities.
Isodiol has also agreed a five-year research contract with GreenLight to further validate the CBD medicines it have already developed in the US.
GreenLight Medicines was founded in 2015 by Wicklow-based entrepreneur Dr. James Linden. Its primary focus is on researching cannabis and its primary components – cannabinoids -- as a medicine to treat a variety of diseases.
In Association with
High Profile
GreenLight’s team of researchers and scientists includes some high-profile names. Among them is former chairman of the UK’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), neuroscientist and psychiatrist, Professor David Nutt.
Nutt, who works with Imperial College in London, is GreenLight’s chief medical officer. He was sacked by the UK’s then home secretary Alan Johnson from his government advisory role in 2009 after criticising the government’s stance on cannabis.
Other GreenLight team members include cancer researcher Professor William Gallagher from UCD, cannabinoids researcher Professor David Finn from NUIG, biochemist Professor Tom Cotter from UCC and Professor David Henshall from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
Patrick Deasy joined GreenLight Medicines in 2015 as its chief financial officer (CFO). Said Deasy: “Clinical trials are generally five years in duration, costing in the region of €7-10 million per drug, therefore seed and phase two investment has been essential in driving GreenLight’s vision forward.
“In early 2017, we will be conducting our third call for investment funding, and due to the heightened awareness in cannabinoid benefits and research, we’ve already received a great deal of interest from additional investors.”
Founder James Linden said that there is now mounting evidence that cannabinoids are an effective form of treatment for many illnesses, including Multiple Sclerosis (MS), glaucoma, arthritis, epilepsy and cancer.
He added: “We’ve spent the last 24 months developing research programmes with many universities in Ireland, including University College Dublin, University College Cork, NUI Galway and the Royal College of Surgeons, and this month sees the first tranche of research projects going live.”
“Our private investors have a track record in pharma investment in Europe and the US, and their knowledge and financial commitment, in addition to Isodiol’s investment, will enable us to complete our initial research modules into cannabinoid treatment for inflammation, eye disease and pain relief amongst other conditions.”
GreenLight Medicines is the first Irish pharmaceutical company to focus on the production and sale of novel molecules derived from phyto-cannabinoids.
Photo: Dr. Keith Murphy, University College Dublin, with GreenLight Medicines founder Dr. James Linden (right) (Pic: Peter Houlihan)
