A California based firm run by Evangelical Special Forces veterans has partnered with an Israeli bio-tech company to develop cannabis-based solutions for a wide range of health concerns.

Zytecur, based in Hollister California, joined forces with Ilan Bio, an agro-biotechnology company located in Givat Chen in central Israel. Six of the founding members of Zycatur are ex-Special Forces in the U.S. military, a number of whom saw combat in Iraq and Afghanistan and were wounded.

“There’s really no other way to put it how this all came about other than the fact that God ordained us to have a successful enterprise,”Chris Clark, a founder of Zytecur, said in an interview with Benito Link. Zycatur is building their new 5,000 square meter base of operations in San Benito.

Clark is enthusiastic about partnering with Israelis.

“The consistency of the technology that the Israelis developed offers this industry solution not to just for California, but to the entire federally-regulated cannabis laws that are going to be put into affect,” Clark said. “It’s a well thought-out, tactical look at how to regulate medicalized cannabis that focuses on the medical efficacy of a plant. They’ve been studying it much longer than any other country.”

Liam Gal-Om, the CEO of Ilan Bio, was equally enthusiastic, noting that Israeli legislation has allowed this burgeoning medical technology to develop.

“We have one of the most forward-thinking governments in the world for cannabis,”  he said in an interview to Israeli–Cannabis. “Israel is at the forefront for clinical trials, patent registration and now export, allowing for the medical cannabis industry here to evolve to pharma-scale for size and quality.”

Last month, an Israeli government committee took the first steps towards advancing legislation to allow the export of medical marijuana products, aiming to encourage new investment and innovation in the field, while boosting its agricultural sector.

Zytecur has signed America’s first and only contract with the U.S. Government through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) through the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.  One of the many ailments they hope to address is post-traumatic stress disorder, a serious illness that plagues many of US veterans.