BOHECO celebrates its 10-year anniversary, launches India’s first line of clinically trialed products

Mumbai: Bombay Hemp Company (BOHECO), India’s foremost industrial hemp and medical cannabis company, recently marked 10 years of providing research-led and innovation backed hemp-based wellness to consumers. On occasion of their 10th year since inception, the brand reaffirmed their commitment towards patients with the launch of a range of next generation, clinically trialed cannabis leaf-based products targeted towards various chronic pain and mental health conditions.

The decade-old vertically integrated company works with several farmers and FPOs based out of Bageshwar, Uttarakhand, along with 500+ medical practitioners across Ayurveda and Modern Medicine to harness hemp’s potential and create lasting impact across communities. Today, BOHECO closely works with the medical fraternity who have further recommended BOHECO products to a larger 5000+ strong doctor community. This has also enabled collaborations with institutes such as Tata Memorial Center, Mumbai and National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur for extensive research into the medical applications of, and clinical trials for cannabis leaf-based medicines.

The increasing acceptance for cannabis leaf-based medicines has certainly highlighted the need for extensive research and clinical trials to understand the extent of its efficacy in supporting symptomatic management of ailments. This laid the foundation for the clinical trials for BOHECO GLIDE+ (for osteoarthritis) and BOHECO PRISTINE (for eczema and psoriasis), in collaboration with the National Institute of Ayurveda.

The trials showcase the efficacy of cannabis in providing relief and alleviating symptomatic pain of these chronic ailments, offering a better quality of life to patients with minimal side effects. The clinical study for arthritis (Osteoarthrosis), conducted among the age group of 30-75 years, was done in line with global assessments and measured on the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) and Visual Analog Scale (VAS). It revealed that external application of GLIDE+ was efficacious in providing significant improvement in pain relief and joint motility with 4 and 8 weeks of regular usage with no adverse side effects reported. Similarly, the clinical trial for PRISTINE showed marked improvement in EASI (Eczema Area and Severity Index) scores and symptoms of itchiness, dryness and rashes for patients suffering from eczema after regular application of the product.

“Over the past decade, we have been able to successfully set up a fledgeling industrial hemp and medical cannabis ecosystem in the country, which can support the healthcare, pharma and agriculture sectors, while positively contributing to the country’s economic and healthcare objectives. The recent success of the cultivation of industrial hemp with legally permissible limits of THC is bolstered by the release of the clinical trial reports for GLIDE+ and PRISTINE. The preliminary results indicate medical cannabis’ immense efficacy in managing both pain and skin conditions. As we further conduct more clinical trials and expand our presence across the country and the globe along with our product portfolio, we thank all our partners, investors and supporters who have stood by us and our vision over the years,” said Chirag Tekchandaney, Co-founder & CEO, Bombay Hemp Company (BOHECO).

Over the last 5 years, BOHECO has witnessed a consistent 25% year-on-year growth in terms of annual revenue,  with the pain and mental health (stress)  portfolios being the key growth drivers for the company. Its bestseller, GLIDE, indicated for arthritis, has seen a growing acceptability for sustainable health solutions amongst older people across metros. Products for chronic pain (PEACE) and stress & insomnia (SLEEP) have also witnessed a similar increase in sales indicating the growing incidence of pain and mental health related ailments, especially post the pandemic. Herein, cannabis leaf based solutions bridge the gap for the need for holistic solutions to address the same.

Today, BOHECO counts 1 Lac+ consumers and 500+ partners as part of its budding story. “We, as a country, have come full circle with our perceptions towards hemp,” opines Yash Kotak, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Bombay Hemp Company (BOHECO). “Increasing awareness on how medical cannabis can help with pain management has made the acceptance towards cannabis leaf-based medication more mainstream. Having said that, there are several other medical applications of this wonder plant, which have been forgotten. The overarching objective of our campaign ‘Heal With Hemp’ is to help people understand how medical cannabis can empower patients to holistically manage their ailments,” said Yash Kotak, Co-founder & CMO, Bombay Hemp Company (BOHECO).

Looking ahead, the company plans to refocus on patient centricity through the medical cannabis lens – specifically for pain, mental health and stress. To this end, they have high quality and clinically tested pain management and mental health wellness products in the pipeline that will hit the shelves in the coming quarter. BOHECO is also exporting hemp-based products to several international destinations like South Korea, Malaysia and the Middle East among others, in addition to working with governments to develop policy frameworks towards favourable regulatory pathways for the clinical trials & prescription based distribution of Cannabis based medicines.