Bethesda, MD, Nov. 5, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- India Globalization Capital, Inc. (IGC) announces today that Dr. James A. Saunders has joined the company as a senior advisor. Dr. Saunders will provide advise on IGC's expanding Specialty Pharmaceutical IP initiatives that are focused on developing medical and medicinal treatments with cannabinoid therapies.
Dr. Saunders possesses extensive expertise in plant genomics, natural product plant biochemistry, gene transfer, extraction technologies, hybridization, and DNA finger printing, among other areas. He has published 95 peer-reviewed manuscripts and has made over 280 scholarly presentations in national and international forums. Between 1977 and 2003 Dr. Saunders served as a Plant Biochemist with the United States Dept. of Agriculture in Beltsville Maryland, in the Tobacco Laboratory and Drug Crops Laboratory, among other assignments focusing on the chemistry and medicinal effects of secondary natural plant products especially those found in Tobacco, Cannabis, Opium Poppy, Coca and Chocolate crops. Between 2004 and 2011, Dr. Saunders was Director, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry and Bioinformatics and Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, and Department of Chemistry, at Towson University. Subsequently, he was Chairman of the Maryland Section of the American Chemical Society (2012 -2014). Dr. Saunders received a B.A., Zoology 1971 from University of South Florida, a Ph.D., Botany, from Miami University in 1975, and a Postdoctoral Scholar and Research Biochemist, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, from University of California, Davis in 1977.
"We welcome Dr. Saunders to IGC as we work to develop cannabinoid based alternatives to popular opioid-based drugs to treat pain in several large-market indications. Our goal is to provide effective pain relief while reducing or eliminating the occurrence of common opioid side effects such as constipation, nausea and respiratory depression among others. We expect to begin to see revenues from this effort by early next year, " said Ram Mukunda, IGC's CEO.
IGC is currently developing a nationwide brand by using its formulation (IGC501) as an anchor for the treatment of debilitating pain with administration via a topical cream. IGC has several patent filings in the combination therapy space for the indications of Pain, Medical Refractory Epilepsy and Cachexia. The pain market represents a significant component of the healthcare system and The Journal of Pain in September 2012 reported that the annual estimated national cost of pain ranges from $560 billion to $635 billion.
About IGC
IGC is engages in identifying, developing or acquiring and commercializing cannabinoid based biopharmaceutical therapies that address end of life supportive care, hospice care, chronic neurological and oncological diagnosis. The company also supplies components for OEMs involved in health care and the Internet-of-Things. India Globalization Capital Inc. ("IGC") is based in Bethesda, Maryland.
Our website: www.igcinc.us. Twitter @IGCIR
Forward-looking Statements:
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