Innocan Pharma Corp., which trades on the Canadian CSE stock exchange, has completed raising C$5.1 million (about NIS 12.5 million) from investors in Israel, Europe and Canada to fund their ongoing joint research with Tel Aviv University (TAU) into a possible treatment for COVID-19.
"We are delighted to see the public's expression of added confidence in the company." Innocan CEO, Iris Bincovich said following the announcement.
In April, InnoCan Pharma Corporation announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, InnoCan Pharma Ltd. of Herzliya Israel, had entered into a sponsored research agreement with Ramot at TAU develop a revolutionary new approach to treating COVID-19 by using cannabidiol (CBD) loaded exosomes (“CLX”).
At the same time, research was conducted in collaboration with the Hebrew University into loading liposomes with CBD, which would allow controlled release CBD application through injection.
In May, Rambam Heath Care Campus in Haifa announced that it has scheduled clinical trials in the coming months to see if cannabis could be helpful in treating severely ill coronavirus patients.
The platforms were developed to treat a variety of diseases. In the case of coronavirus, they work to ease the inflammatory process and contribute to the recovery of infected lung cells
According to the researchers, when the cell healing properties of the exosomes are combined with the anti-inflammatory properties of CBD, exosomes can act as “homing missiles” for COVID-19, which specifically target inflammations and cell damage.
Exosomes also have an important role in cell-to-cell communication, which can be beneficial to additional treatments for CNS indications such as epilepsy and Alzheimer’s Disease.
Prof. Dani Offen, who leads the team of researchers at TAU, said, "I am pleased to work with the InnoCan team on this exciting CLX development project. We are facing a challenging time, and I believe our unique approach holds a promise to offer a treatment for COVID-19, pneumonia and perhaps for other lung inflammations as well."
Innocan was founded by a group of entrepreneurs including CEO Iris Bincovich, Ron Miron, former CEO of Teva Israel, Nir Abraham, one of the oldest drug formulators in Israel, a former member of the Frigo and Yoram Drucker innovation team, Ploristim and BrainStorm .