HempStreet, a start-up developing medicinal remedies based on cannabis, has received Biotechnology Ignition Grant from the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) for developing a medicinal cannabis solution.
HempStreet would probably be the first venture working on medicinal cannabis to receive an official funding agency grant. BIRAC is set up by the Department of Biotechnology.
In a statement issued here, the company said it plans to utilise the funds to patent and commercialise a recent research breakthrough around transdermal delivery technology that could disrupt a $7 billion global industry. HempStreet said it aims to tackle mass-ailments utilising researched and responsibly dispensed medicinal cannabis for pain relief to an addressable patient base of over 35 million.
Last year, the company announced it received a pre-Series funding of $1 million from Pharmacon Holdings, a US-based pharma tech firm and a private investor, to fund its plans to release a host of cannabis-based prescription products through a network of ayurvedic practitioners.
The statement claimed that currently, 2,400 clinics across 224 States prescribing HempStreet medicines.
“This award and grant is a validation of our efforts to build a world-class institution and take the Indian medical cannabis industry from where it currently is, to where it should be.…We are committed to contribute to the global medical cannabis industry, not just in volume and impact, but as an innovator in the category, said Abhishek Mohan, Co-Founder & CEO, HempStreet India.