Genome BC is pleased to announce that it has made its first investment through its Industry Innovation (I²) Program to Anandia Laboratories Inc. (Anandia Labs). Anandia Labs is a Vancouver-based cannabis biotechnology company with two objectives: providing leading analytical testing services to the regulated cannabis industry in Canada; and developing improved cannabis and hemp strains for novel, safe, and effective medical applications. According to Health Canada, close to 70,000 Canadians patients are currently accessing medical marijuana from Canadian licensed producers.

“Anandia is using modern plant breeding approaches and genomics to create the next generation of cannabis varieties that combine optimized therapeutic properties with grower-focused agronomic traits,” says Dr. Jonathan Page, co-founder and CEO of Anandia Labs. “Under full legalization the Canadian cannabis market (medical and recreational) may grow to be as large as $10-billion and Health Canada expects a mature medical cannabis market to be upwards of $1.3-billion.”

Cannabis and cannabinoid drugs are increasingly being used to treat numerous health conditions with the main indications being pain, nausea, reduced appetite, spasticity, epilepsy and insomnia. Hemp – the non-psychoactive form of cannabis grown for fibre and seed – is also expanding rapidly in Canada and now grows in more than 10 US states. Genome BC’s investment will be used to aggressively expand Anandia Lab’s analytical testing services that have just come on-stream, including ramping up sales and marketing activities with several key hires. In addition, these funds will accelerate the identification of high-value genetic traits enabling the commercialization of optimized cannabis varieties.

“Genome BC’s investment will reap benefits for our province,” says Dr. Tony Brooks, Genome BC’s Chief Financial Officer and Vice President, Research Programs. “Our intent with Anandia Labs, and all other companies, is to support commercialization in BC and ensure that local companies can develop into globally competitive businesses.”

Genome BC’s I² Fund provides commercialization support for companies developing innovative life science technologies that address industry challenges in key economic sectors in BC: Agriculture, Energy and Mining, Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Forestry, and Human Health. The I² Fund will also support digital health and other technologies that will further move precision medicine into clinical practice. I² funding is repayable and is allocated to promising technologies (products, processes or services) at the early stages of commercial development. The Fund aims to provide risk capital that is concurrently matched by other public or private funding sources.

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