MEDCANN Europe received this important authorization from the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products – AEMPS, just one week after the country approved the regulation of cannabis for therapeutic purposes that will provide access to patients before the end of the year.
With the authorization obtained by the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS, for its Spanish acronym Agencia Española de Medicamentos y Productos Sanitarios), medcann Europe enters the select group of 14 companies authorized for the cultivation of Cannabis plants for research purposes in Spain, which allows progress of its collaborative R&D&I project in the Basque Country with the Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development (NEIKER); technological center specialized in the creation of innovative solutions for the agro-livestock and forestry sectors in this region of the country.
This public-private collaboration between medcann and NEIKER links the agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors, and assumes the beginning of a long-term project with a focus on research, development and innovation applied to cannabis genetics, a crucial element in production operations, since it determines the development and growth of plants and their yield, and defines its composition in active ingredients, cannabinoids and terpenes – among others – this aspect being decisive for its therapeutic effects.
It is worth to point out that the project has a broad scope in two phases, with the participation of different actors: agro-genetic research with NEIKER, and medical research and
pharmaceutical development. The objective in this first stage, for which this authorization has been obtained, will be the characterization of the 14 genetics of medcann for registration in the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) in order to protect the breeder’s rights of these genetics in Europe, and of future varieties. This is a great future opportunity to develop and protect new varieties in order to provide authorized producers, both local and from other countries in Europe, and respond to the present and future needs of the market.
“The recognition as a supplier of cannabis genetics of licit and traceable origin, for medical and scientific purposes – added to this authorization from the AEMPS – gives medcann an outstanding visibility and reputation, and places us in a privileged position, of which we will
take advantage in this context of a market boost, thanks to the proximity of a regulation that will allow access to patients within six months”, says Carlos Adolfo Guzmán, global CEO of the medcann Pharma Inc.
In a second phase, and with the engagement of medical research institutes and professionals from the health sector – from this autonomous community and from other regions of Spain – it is expected that the project will be extended to pharmaceutical development and medical research in several lines of interest that are currently being assessed, which will allow progress in knowledge acquisition around medicinal cannabis
and the generation of evidence on its therapeutic effects.
According to figures from the Spanish Observatory of Medicinal Cannabis, between 250,000 and 300,000 patients in Spain go to the “black market”. “Guaranteeing legal and health security must be a priority of the Government, and of actors of this industry and the health sector, to attend to all those patients with ailments, which currently do not have a clear therapeutic response and wherein the use of medicinal cannabis begins to demonstrate benefits”, concludes Carlos
