Israel Offers Bulgaria Collaboration on Medical Cannabis R&D

Israel is extending a hand to Bulgaria for cooperation on the research of medical cannabis with the prospect of turning it into a successful industry, a group of academicals from both countries said at a meeting organized by the Israeli Ambassador in Sofia.

"What we propose is to collaborate and bring the technology we developed in Israel in terms of genetic materials, in terms of sophisticated sorting devices in terms of THC levels [THC is one of the most active ingredients in cannabis], relative humidity, to make sure that every time a patient receives medical cannabis, it is going to be with the exact dosage of active ingredients," according to Prof Oded Shoseyov, a faculty member of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem whose research is in plant molecular biology protein engineering and nano-biotechnology.

"Even Europe started to move into that very slowly. Bulgaria is in the middle of the continent. With huge resource of land, with my experience with your scientists you have everything you need to take it from the level of an illegal industry to a successful business story of Bulgaria." Prof Shoseyov elaborated that, apart from creating jobs and bringing revenues, the project might move to the direction of active pharmaceutical ingredients and this span further into the medical industry.

Bulgarian scientists, to whom the Israeli hand is now extended for cooperation, have yet to respond, according to the words of Dr Tony Spassov, the Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy at the Sofia University.

Dr Spassov told Novinite that whether the Bulgarian scientists will accept the proposal or not is a question of a second step: "to see what both sides will do and to see how it will work on an expert level, and then to engage the...