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A company looking to surf on the COVID-19 news wave for some added publicity has launched a hand sanitiser infused with CBD, which it claims is an ideal ingredient to add in the fight against viruses.
The company, Global Cannabinoids, has produced a 65% ethanol-based hand sanitiser gel. This is above Centers for Disease Control recommendations for minimum alcohol content in a hand sanitiser. To this, the company has added vitamin E as well as a 1:1 mix of CBD and CBG in a 100 mg per 2 oz. dose.
The cannabinoids have been shown to have potential anti-microbial properties in a preliminary study which did find they acted as modulators of lipid affinity. Lipids are the weakest element in coronaviruses such as COVID-19. However what difference the addition of CBD and CBG makes to the hand sanitiser is unclear at this point in time – though anti-bacterials generally do not have much of an impact.
US firm to supply CBD-based drugs to Brazil
A US nutritional ingredient company has announced a deal which will see its CBD-based drugs distributed in Brazil.
Kemin Industries, based in Des Moines, Iowa, announced a partnership earlier this month with Brazilian company CBD Vida where Kemin’s subsidiary, CBD manufacturer MedPharm, will supply the South American company with products.
Brazil’s regulations on CBD have recently changed, allowing patients to get CBD on prescription directly from pharmacies, and CBD Vida’s CEO, Fabio Candello, hailed the move, saying it would mean people in the country had access to products “scientifically created with extreme care”.
CBD and psychedelics firm buys psilocybin business
A company which specialises in CBD and psychedelics has completed the purchase of a psilocybin business.
Canada-based Revive Therapeutics announced earlier this month that it had completed the acquisition of Psilocin Pharma for an aggregate purchase price of CAD2.75m, comprising 55m common shares at a deemed price of $0.05 per share.
When the initial deal was announced in February, Revive CEO Michael Frank said: “Psilocin Pharma has the platform, relationships, and know-how to develop psylocibin-based products that are key to this emerging psychedelics industry. We feel this acquisition will complement Revive and be a strong addition to our current clinical initiatives in liver disease and inflammation.”
Cannabis company to get new processing facility
A Nevada cannabis company has signed the lease for a new processing facility.
GK Manufacturing & Packaging, a subsidiary of Mesquite-based Cannabis Sativa Inc, will be taking over a 16,364 sq ft facility in Oakland, California, and is hoping to use the site, which is registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has both halal and kosher certification, to produce up to 12m product units per month.
The move will be completed later in March, and Cannabis Sativa CEO David Tobias said he was “anxious” to have it completed.
Bioscience company delivers a CBD-producing yeast
A Canadian biosciences company has achieved what it describes as its “first major commercial milestone” by delivering a form of yeast which produces CBD.
Calgary, Alberta, based Willow Biosciences delivered the yeast to its partner, Albany Molecular Research, earlier this month, with the company aiming to create a 500 l pilot scale demonstration by the end of the year, and with the product expected to hit the market at some point in 2021.
Willow CEO Trevor Peters praised his company’s scientists, saying: “Their ability to create the yeast strain that will form the base of our future production ahead of expectations is a testament to their skill and expertise.”
USA Weightlifting to partner with CBD firm
The governing body for weightlifting in the US has announced a partnership with a CBD company.
USA Weightlifting (USAW) will be working with Pure Spectrum in an arrangement which will last until 2023 and, USAW says, will help competitors use a product that is compliant with both US and world anti-doping regulations.
USAW is not the first governing body of an Olympic sport to partner with Pure Spectrum, with USA Triathlon teaming up with the Evergreen, Colorado, company last year.
CBD-infused blanket hits the market
A US wellness brand is selling what it claims is the world’s first CBD blanket.
New York’s Curfew is selling its Dream Blanket which is infused with CBD to give users “ultimate relaxation” on its website for $295.
The blanket uses micro-encapsulation, where the CBD is stored inside coatings and released via friction every time it is used, and Curfew says the CBD should last for 20 wash cycles, or around two years. The company is not the first to use a micro-encapsulation/friction strategy for CBD. Acabada created a CBD active-wear product that it claimed would last for 40 “high-intensity wear and wash cycles”.
Dog-sledding champion gives dogs CBD
Dog-sledding champion Lance Mackey has admitted to giving his dogs CBD despite the protestations of race vets.
Mackey, who won the Iditarod race in Alaska four years in the row from 2007 to 2010, said that he had given his dogs the substance before last year’s race, but was told by head vet Stuart Nelson not to – a request he declined because CBD is not on the competition’s banned list.
Mackey got the product from Talkeetna-based dispensary The High Expedition as part of an endorsement deal, and said his dogs got through $100 worth of CBD tincture a day during the 938 mile race, which is said to last over two weeks on average.
Cannabis company faces lawsuit for over-inflated projections
The founder of a cannabis company is being sued over claims he inflated business projections by more than 2000% in an attempt to con the firm’s licensees out of more than $1.2m.
Papers filed at Nevada’s US District Court claim Chase Mandel knowingly exaggerated projections involving cannabis chew firm Cannadips and its parent company, Trinidad Consulting, by telling Solace Enterprises they could make $150,000 a day gross profit when, Solace claims, the truth was that it made more like $8400 a day.
Solace also claimed that it had lent Mandel £500,000 in 2018, raising that figure to $1m six months later, but the loan has not been repaid, and Solace also says Mandel used some of the money for “personal benefit and to fund lifestyle choices”.
However, Mandel’s attorney Brian Hafter says Solace had failed to “pay royalties owed to Cannadips and/or provide the required royalty reports”.
Cannabis companies set to merge
Two cannabis companies are set to merge, it has been announced.
BR Brands, who make the Mary’s Brands and Defonce ranges of CBD products and Dixie Brands, which makes AcesoHemp, will be uniting in a deal which will see a board comprising three people from BR and two from Dixie.
Under the new arrangement, the company will 80% owned by BR.
Lack of regulatory clarity causes asset value drop
Canadian cannabis giant Tilray is lowering the value of its US CBD assets, citing a lack of regulatory clarity.
Tilray made the announcement after its annual reports reported a $112m (US) write-down of the agreement it made last year with Authentic Brands Group in a deal which would have seen a roll out of CBD products to mainstream shops.
The company made a net loss of $321.2m, or $3.20 a share, across 2019, with a net loss in the last quarter of $219m, and senior vice president Rachel Perkins said: “We are closely monitoring the FDA’s guidance around CBD and await further clarity before we make further investments in this market.”
CBD firm acquires company specialising in cannabis brand promotion
A CBD company has bought a business which specialises in helping promote cannabis brands through marketing.
CBD Unlimited announced the acquisition for an undisclosed sum of Kush Inc, which also owns Kush Wear, a website which helps promote and market clothes made from hemp.
CBD Unlimited CEO Todd Davis said: “We look forward to extending our product pipeline to sustainable alternatives and clothing brands under the Kushwear name.”
Clinical trial for CBD medicine to help heart failure approved
Canadian healthcare authority Health Canada has approved a clinical trial for a CBD medicine designed for patients who should not be exposed to THC.
The authority has issued a no objection letter to Cardiol Therapeutics, allowing it to carry out a phase 1 study of its CBD formulation which, Cardiol hopes, will help treat acute myocarditis, a form of inflammatory heart failure which is a cause of sudden cardiac death in children and young adults.
Cardiol CEO David Elsley said: “This will be the first study designed to investigate safety and dosing levels of our high concentration cannabidiol formulation developed for patients who should not be exposed to THC.”
Canopy Growth to close two facilities
Cannabis giant Canopy Growth says it will close two facilities in Aldergrove and Delta, British Columbia, leading to the loss of 500 jobs, as well as shelving plans for a new site in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, citing the slow development of the Canadian Market in the 17 months since legalisation.
However, Canopy also announced that it has entered into a loan financing arrangement with TerrAscend Canada, helping TerrAscend fund its American operation, Arise Bioscience.
The moves see Canopy shifting its aims slightly from the Canadian market to the US one, and CEO David Klein said the closures were a “necessary step”.
German drug store starts selling CBD again
German drug store Rossmann is selling CBD again after taking it off the shelves last year over concerns about EU novel foods legislation.
The chain is now stocking a range of CANOBO products, made by Dusseldorf company CannaCare Health, with shoppers able to get a 100 ml tube of muscle gel for €19.99, a 100 ml bottle of 2.75% CBD oil for €19.99 and a 5% bottle of CBD oil for €34.99.
Although Rossmann is back selling CBD, it is not known whether and when its main rival, dm-drogerie markt, will lift the self-imposed ban put in place in April last year.
– CBD-Intel staff
Photo: Kelly Sikkema
