Cymra Life Sciences has beefed up its board with the addition of three pharmaceutical and agriculture executives and secured a cultivation permit enabling it to specialise in genetic services and tissue culture propagation.
Monsanto senior executive Rachel Palumbo, former Alphapharm CEO John Montgomery and former Blackmores CEO Richard Henfrey have joined the board.
The company is focused on using micropropagation to breed and licence specific strains of medicinal cannabis that can target particular conditions, including chronic pain.
The strategy also enables it to produce plants with higher yields and to preserve genetics through a ‘tissue bank’, which it says ensures a level of surety that isn’t achievable with seeds or clones.
CEO and co-founder Joel Hardy said: “Securing these permits means we are one of the only companies in Australia that can cultivate, manufacture and sell flowers.
He added: “We’re delighted to have Rachel, John and Richard on the board and look forward to utilising their many years of experience in agriculture and pharmaceuticals to continue working towards our goals of providing genetics to Australian cultivators and running a clinical trial and product development program to help provide alternative medication options for chronic pain sufferers.”
