Irish active-ingredient manufacturer Dunbar Pharmaceuticals has launched the UK’s first plant-derived dronabinol oral spray, extending a pharma-grade THC line that reached specialist prescribers in capsule form in August.
The sprays are manufactured by IPS Pharma at its MHRA-licensed Surrey facility, using Dunbar’s WaterClear THC dronabinol API produced under EU GMP certification at the company’s plant in Athlone.
“The UK’s first plant-derived dronabinol oral spray is an important milestone for Dunbar,” Leah Fletcher, Co-founder and CEO of Dunbar Pharma said in a press release. “With oral sprays alongside capsules, IPS Pharma is using our dronabinol API in a number of finished formats.”
While dronabinol, the international non-proprietary name for delta-9-THC in purified pharmaceutical form, was one of the first cannabis-based pharmaceutical products to be approved by a major regulator, Dunbar’s formulation differentiates itself in how it’s produced.
Having first received FDA approval in 1985 for chemotherapy-induced nausea (CINV), dronabinol has since been widely prescribed across Europe for a range of serious conditions, including cancer, HIV wasting, MS spasticity and chronic pain, where pharmaceutical-grade, mg-dosed THC rather is critical.
Unlike the overwhelming majority of dronabinol products on the market, which are produced synthetically, Dunbar’s formulation is derived entirely from plant starting material.
Its oral spray is the second Waterclear product to make it into the UK market, but Dunbar says it plans to expand both its product range and manufacturing capacity over 2027. It is reportedly already working with partners on additional formulations for the UK and German markets, with a view to expanding elsewhere in the future.
Dunbar Pharma is a High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) client of Enterprise Ireland, which has invested in the company alongside private Irish investors. Enterprise Ireland is the Irish Government agency responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets, and its backing has supported the build-out of the company’s GMP manufacturing operation in Athlone and its entry into the German and UK markets.
