$IGC Up Almost 200%, As Blockchain Added to Cannabis Pharma Platform

Both cannabis and blockchain technology stocks have been on the rise in the year 2017 and are still growing. Just recently, India Globalization Capital Inc. (NYSE:IGC) announced that it will be adding blockchain to its current cannabis pharma platform. At the time of reporting, the stock is up 240.5% and is selling at $1.26 a share.

It will continue to develop methods to utilize blockchain technology in certain areas of the company such as product identification assurance and leveraging its technology team and healthcare experts. The Maryland-based company has two forms of business: a cannabis pharma business and a legacy infrastructure business.

India Globalization Capital has four proprietary cannabis-based products. Hyalolex is a cannabis-based formula used to aid Alzheimer’s disease. The company has the launching of this product to patients set in early 2018. Tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive cannabinoid found within the marijuana plant, is used with a combination of other formulas to slow the buildup of plaque in the brain.

Hyalolex is expected to move though FDA registered preclinical and clinical trials in 2018, at the same time the company expects to license its formulation simultaneously for distribution. IGC will be focusing on cannabis dispensaries within the U.S, focusing its treatment as complementary and alternative medicine for the disease.

The pivot to use blockchain technology comes from IGC’s need to fix the issue of under and over-labeling of cannabidiol products that are sold online. According to a recent study in Jama, almost 70 percent of all cannabidiol products that are sold online are mislabeled.

CEO of India Globalization Capital, Ram Mukunda, said:

“As we work to develop blockchain in the rollout of Hyalolex, our goal would be to establish a universal cannabis platform applicable to solving multiple industry challenges facing dispensaries and consumers. This would include addressing issues such as transactional difficulties, inadequate product labeling, product identification assurance and product origin assurance.”

With legalization currently in 30 states medicinally and 7 of those states recreational, cannabis stocks will continue to rise as it becomes more widely adopted. In additional, Blockchain technology is being adopted worldwide and is now implemented in various sectors to streamline the current systems that are in place.

Featured Image: NASDAQ