MediCrops to open a cutting-edge production facility at Y-Parc

Driven by a growingly favorable environment, medical cannabis start-up MediCrops is set to open a cutting-edge production facility at Y-Parc, and create fifteen new jobs.

On August 1st 2022, the Federal Council passed a new law to open up the medicinal cannabis market in Switzerland. MediCrops is actively engaged in developing cannabis-based preparations for medical use and fully intends to become a key player in this market.

As one the rare Swiss companies that is in a position to sequence the cannabis genome, MediCrops has devoted greatly invested towards research in this field.

The recent changes in Swiss narcotics legislation have opened up much larger prospects for the start-up, which was founded in 2019. The company was able to raise CHF 20 million from renowned investors last year. A third ongoing financing round of over CHF 50 million is off to a strong start.

The capital will be invested in a new production facility at the Y-Parc in Yverdon-les-Bains and in the research and development center at the Biopôle in Lausanne.

Exploring the biological activity of cannabis to combat disease and pain

Aside from THC and CBD, the biological properties of cannabis have been neglected in academic circles and as a result remain largely unknown. MediCrops intends to fill the gaps in scientific knowledge via omics technology structured around bioinformatics, biochemistry, and molecular biology.

 “At present, genomic and metabolic data on cannabinoids accounts for less than 1% of research into the plant, which is overwhelmingly devoted to growth or production enhancement,” explains Anthony Guihur, Head of R&D at MediCrops. “We have one of the only teams in Switzerland to be familiar with the engineering involved in systematic analysis of living organisms at the molecular level.”

Although perceptions are shifting, the Vaud-based company is well aware that positioning cannabis as a legitimate treatment remains a challenge. The start-up aims to develop partnerships and support the creation of discussion platforms targeting doctors, patients, key opinion leaders, and the general public, and will be paying careful attention to the observational study of the effects of medical use of cannabis on patients to be carried out by Swiss authorities.