Spanish pharma start-up specialised in medicinal cannabis and consumer healthcare, Trichome Pharma, has welcomed Labiana Pharmaceuticals and Little Green Pharma as investors and strategic partners.
The company is forging partnerships in order to fulfil its ambition of becoming the first distributor of medicinal cannabis in Spain. The development follows Trichome’s recent announcement that it has received a medicinal cannabis cultivation license from the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices (AEMPS) for R&D.
Read more: Little Green Pharma to increase medical cannabis offering in UK
CEO of Trichome Pharma and managing director of Trichome Capital, Nicholas Balk, commented: “Labiana and LGP are both highly respected leaders in their relevant niches. Naturally, we’re very excited to welcome them both as shareholders and strategic partners. We thank them for their support and trust in our vision.
“Our partnership with Labiana makes perfect sense, given their expertise in third-party EU-GMP manufacturing of specialised medicines, including psychotropics, as well as their strengths in pharmaceutical distribution. Likewise, LGP has some of the highest quality medical cannabis products available and a successful commercial track record in complex regulatory environments.
“LGP’s range of flowers and oil based preparations will perfectly complement what we aim to produce locally here in Spain and allow us to achieve our goal of being first to market.”
Labiana’s investment in Trichome Pharma is a vote of confidence from the traditional pharmaceutical industry in the potential of cannabis as a regulated therapeutic in Spain.
Trichome Pharma’s director of consumer healthcare, Daniel Krupp, commented: “The medicinal cannabis sector needs to be taken seriously on issues of quality and safety, especially by prescribers and their patients. On the other hand, no one knows cannabis better than those that work with the plant directly.
“Both big pharma and the cannabis sector stand to benefit from closer collaboration and a transfer of knowledge.
“The unique part of our offer is that we’re bringing experts from different fields together to build a platform of open innovation. This serves to deliver only the best possible outcomes for patients and consumers.”
Labiana’s president and CEO, Manuel Ramos, added: “This commitment to the medical cannabis business is part of the company’s strategic innovation plan, which seeks to stay one step ahead in order to respond to all market needs.
“And in this case, at Labiana, we are authorized and experienced in the production of psychotropic and narcotic products, and it is clear that the medicinal use of cannabis is already, as we can see, a reality that is increasingly regulated by governments around the world, with a lot of potential for growth.”
Trichome Pharma’s collaboration with Little Green Pharma began after Balk and Fleta Solomon, CEO of LGP, met at a conference in German.
Solomon said: “Spain is the next major market in Europe to legalise medicinal cannabis. We’re very excited to anticipate a change in regulation and develop this partnership with Trichome Pharma, in a market that should be comparable in size to France or Italy at maturity.”
Labiana and LGP’s entry into the Spanish medicinal cannabis market comes at a major inflection point as it is expected that in the coming days, the Health Commission will vote on a proposal recently put forward by a special government subcommittee on medicinal cannabis regulation.
On June 21 the subcommittee agreed on and presented a long-awaited report which contemplates the prescription of medicinal cannabis for a limited number of illnesses.
Trichome Pharma has stated that the proceeds from their recent capital raise will be allocated to investments that are aligned with this thinking long-term and plans to raise additional capital towards the end of the year.
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