MGC Pharmaceuticals came out of a trading halt on Monday and jumped by almost 10% on news it had been granted a full European license to grow and cultivate cannabis for research programs.
The license has been awarded as part of a three-year strategic research partnership with Slovenia’s University of Ljubljana. The University will run a program of cross-breeding with MGC’s proprietary medicinal cannabis strains to produce new strains that will be registered in the European Union.
The market gave MGC an immediate lift because the program gives the company a potential inside track to the European market. It is expected that when medicinal cannabis is legalized in European countries, only registered varieties will be allowed for cultivation and sale.
MGC’s Managing Director, Nativ Segev, said: “This new medicinal cannabis license cements our strong global botanical research credentials and has enabled us to commence an additional genetics and cross-breeding program. The new program will help us develop additional strains of medicinal cannabis that are tailored to treat specific medical conditions such as epilepsy and chronic pain as well as the side effects of oncology.”
The research program will also develop improved methods for fast and efficient breeding of cannabis plants.
The program will be run at the University’s Biotechnical Faculty and led by Dr Jana Murovec in collaboration with Dr Marko Flajsman. The faculty’s internationally renowned head, Professor Borut Bohanec, will also be involved in the research partnership with MGC.
MGC is building up an impressive bank of proprietary research that will position it as a front-runner as markets open up. The company already has a five-year research partnership with Panax Pharma under a licence in the Czech Republic and is developing a library of medicinal cannabis with the Royal Institute of Melbourne.
By Matt Birney
