Ananda Developments
Aquis-listed pharmaceutical cannabis company Ananda Developments welcomed two new scientific advisors ‘to assist the company in developing its in-house capabilities and pipeline of clinical trials’ this week.
First, Professor Cherry Wainwright, a veteran pharmacological research expert is set to join the company. She will be tasked with advising Ananda on its ongoing drug development activities.
Ms Wainwright has published around 100 articles throughout her career of more than 40 years, holds three patents, and is President Elect of the British Pharmacological Society (BPS), a charity with over 4000 members from more than 60 countries globally.
Cherry has published around 100 full original articles and invited reviews and holds 3 patents. She is a Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society, for which she is currently President Elect.
Dr Katie Sloper, PhD, will also be joining the company to help develop its scientific understanding of cannabidiol and its mechanisms of action, with a focus on chronic pain and inflammation, while also helping it identify new areas for clinical investigation.
Ananda’s Chairman, Charles Morgan, commented “Having worked with Cherry and Katie for some time, I am delighted that they are joining Ananda as scientific advisers to support our objective of gaining approval for MRX’s cannabis-based formulations to be used in the NHS.
“Strengthening our team with these highly regarded scientists will both enhance our scientific capabilities and help us to target our research and development efforts even more effectively. It is also a huge opportunity for Ananda to explore new areas of potential unmet need where our cannabinoid medicines could benefit Patients”
SEED Innovations / Avextra
SEED Innovations, the AIM-listed cannabis investment company, published an update regarding its investee company Avextra this week.
Avextra, previously known as Eurox, is a German vertically integrated medical cannabis company, in which SEED owns around 3%.
The company has announced plans to invest €15m over five years in the launch of new medical cannabis research in partnership with Portugal’s Instituto Universitário de Ciências da Saúde-Cooperativa de Ensino Superior Politécnico e Universitário (IUCS-CESPU)
Depending on the research results, Avextra says there is a potential for even greater investment supported by Iberis Capital, private equity and the company’s largest individual shareholder.
The pair will ‘coordinate and manage’ research and development activities in a number of areas including clinical trials, medical device development and extraction methodologies.
Avextra will reportedly ‘actively participate’ in the supervision of master and PhD students in research with cannabis and psilocybin-based medicines.
Luís Quaresma, partner at Iberis Capital explained: “We are proud to be actively involved in Avextra’s growth, accompanying it on the path that will make it a leading European medical cannabis company. We look forward to seeing the results of this strategic partnership that AvextraA has entered into with IUCS-CESPU and 1H-TOXRUN, which brings Portuguese talent to the forefront of this sector’s evolution.”
Hellenic Dynamics
Greek cultivator Hellenic Dynamics has given investors a further update on its funding as it received the first instalment of its European Union grant.
In July, 2023, Business of Cannabis reported that it was due to receive a grant worth €304,425 through the EU Horizon Europe project.
Hellenic is noted as the only medical cannabis cultivator out of 29 members of the research consortium, which focuses on the optimisation of artificial intelligence (AI).
Davinder Rai, CEO of Hellenic Dynamics, commented: “The results of this research are expected to contribute materially to the improvement of the quality and consistency of our products, as well as to help us meet the Sustainable Development Goals of the Company through the minimisation of our energy consumption.”
It comes just a week after an announcement that Hellenic had received a ‘letter of intent for funding’ from Greek multinational financial services company Piraeus Bank, which has now reportedly reviewed Hellenic’s five-year business plan.
