IGC Builds Team Adding Industry Leader Dr. Chuanhai Cao, an expert on THC-Based Alzheimer’s Disease Treatments

BETHESDA, Md., Aug. 01, 2017 -- India Globalization Capital, Inc. (NYSE-MKT:IGC) is pleased to announce that Dr. Chuanhai Cao has joined its medical research team as a key Advisor.

Dr. Cao is Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, at the University of South Florida’s (USF) College of Pharmacy. He also has joint appointments as Associate Professor at USF’s department of Neurology at the College of Medicine, and the department of CMMB at the College of Arts and Sciences.

“The addition of Dr. Cao will accelerate IGC’s efforts to move its Alzheimer’s product Hyalolex to clinical trials.  Dr. Cao is a dynamic force in cannabis related therapies for Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Cao has one co-inventor patent that has been approved for medical trials, and another patent that is currently being worked on for an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the FDA.  Dr. Cao is the perfect researcher to assist us in moving our THC-based Alzheimer’s treatment into trials and potentially into a blockbuster product.  The addition of Dr. Cao to the core group of medical and science advisors consisting of Dr. Craig Cheifetz, Dr. Ranga Krishna and Dr. James Saunders greatly strengthens our team as we seek to move our four products towards commercialization,” concludes Ram Mukunda, CEO.

Dr. Cao conducted the research underlying USF’s patent filing for the use of THC as a potential therapeutic agent for Alzheimer’s. The lab experiments using an animal model led to the publication of findings that THC has the potential to inhibit amyloid beta peptide aggregation and possibly restore memory function, halting the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.  IGC recently acquired exclusive rights to this patent filing from USF.

Dr. Cao has a PhD, in Medical Microbiology and Virology, from Tianjin Medical University, China.  He has authored or co-authored around 80 peer-reviewed articles.  He has been quoted in Huffington Post, USA Today, and was featured in the CNN documentary WEED 3 The Marijuana Revolution by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Dr. Cao’s interview can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/137431143#t=1818s.

“I became particularly interested in Alzheimer’s disease, especially after the diagnoses of a few individuals close to me.  In 2001, led by co-authors, including well-respected Alzheimer’s pathology researchers at USF, I contributed to my (then) first published paper on responses in experimental mice to a vaccination for the Alzheimer’s disease-associated beta amyloid 1-42 peptide.  I would then go on to co-author over 10 papers studying beta amyloid in Alzheimer’s mice, with a focus on potential treatments.  In 2008, I helped to first-author two papers reporting on potential vaccines for Alzheimer’s disease. The first described the studying and adjuvant-free vaccination using mutated amyloid beta peptides, and the second tested mutant amyloid-beta-sensitized dendritic cells as a possible vaccine. I was also head of a patent on amyloid beta peptides and methods of use. In 2012, I first-authored a book chapter on amyloid beta vaccination strategies, and am currently pursuing a patent on immunomodulatory cells as a novel treatment for diseases, in addition to researching the use of cannabinoids for preventing amyloid beta aggregation.” stated Dr. Cao.

About IGC
IGC is engaged in the development of cannabis based combination therapies to treat Alzheimer’s, pain, nausea, eating disorders, several end points of Parkinson’s, and epilepsy in humans, dogs and cats. In support of this effort, IGC has assembled a portfolio of patent filings and four lead product candidates addressing these conditions. The company is based in Maryland, USA.

For more information please visit www.igcinc.us.
Follow us on Twitter @IGCIR and Facebook.com/IGCIR/.

Forward-looking Statements
Please see forward looking statements as discussed in detail in IGC's Form 10 K for fiscal year ended March 31, 2017, and in other reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact:
Claudia Grimaldi
301-983-0998