A County Durham firm pioneering investigations of cannabidoil (CBD) - an active ingredient in cannabis - has landed nearly £500,000 funding to support research and manufacturing with hope for future jobs.
Canna Group has received the sum from innovation agency Innovate UK to develop bespoke technology to manufacture CBD-HQ - an oxidised version of CBD, which occurs when cannabis or hemp is left open to the elements and is said to be more easily absorbed by the human body. The Consett-based firm says it could be the first such funding for a UK cannabis business and will now develop proprietary cannabidiol synthesis technology.
Americo Folcarelli, chief marketing officer of Canna Group, said: "Naturally, we are very pleased to receive this award from Innovate UK which will help speed-up the development of our proprietary technology for the synthesis of CBD-HQ here in the North East of England."
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Canna Group, which already offers some CBD-based products including oils, jellies and topicals, will work with cannabis researchers from Athens and Barcelona University, including cannabis physician Dr Vangelis Mitsis. CBD-HQ - short for Cannabidiol-Hydroxy Quinone - is stronger and more effective than primary CBD but with existing technology it can take three weeks to extract from CBD.
Until now, little research into CBD-HQ has been done due to the difficult nature of production but it has been shown to have anti-cancer and pain killing properties as well as uses in regulating type two diabetes without dietary changes.
The North East firm says its research has shown it is possible to convert 90% of the CBD into CBD-HQ within 12 hours. Now it wants to demonstrate this process at scale before commercialisation.
The Innovate funding of £472,566 comes from the ‘Innovate UK Smart Grants’ programme which was launched earlier this year. Canna's research is expected to take 15 months and if successful could lead to the creation of up to 20 jobs.
Canna Group’s investors include North Easterner David Robson. Mr Robson, originally from Whitley Bay, previously built Arefco UK into a global provider of new sealing technology to the oil industry - providing solutions to oil leakage from offshore rigs - before selling it to an American consortium in 2012.
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