Greenlight for weed lab
Local medical ganja outfit Apollon Formularies has received the go-ahead to operate its newly completed medical ganja pharmaceutical processing laboratory and operate its consumer dispensaries and provide spa services.
This has come about as the company has received two renewed medical ganja licences from the Jamaican Government, allowing it to process and retail activities for another three years.
The medical ganja regulator in Jamaica, the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA), approved the renewal of Apollon’s Processing (Tier 1) and Retail (Therapeutic) licences in addition to its current CLA approved Research & Development licence.
Apollon’s processing licence allows the company to operate its newly completed state-of-the-art medical ganja pharmaceutical processing laboratory, which has the capacity to produce roughly 20 litres of full-spectrum medical ganja oil per day.
Last year, third-party independent clinical laboratory tests indicated that Apollon’s medical ganja formulations could kill prostate cancer, HER2+ and triple-negative breast cancer cells in 3D cell cultures.
In the meantime, the company is increasing its capacity to allow it to significantly increase its inventory in preparation for global export to those countries where legal import is allowed.
This is also predicated on the company’s drive to have sufficient amounts of medical ganja oil available for potential pharmaceutical partners to perform independent clinical trial validations and provide medical ganja products for its own clinical trials at the International Cancer and Chronic Pain Institute (ICCPI) in Kingston, Jamaica.
The retail licence provides legal approval for Apollon to operate consumer dispensaries and provide therapeutic or spa services, where medical ganja products are used.
Under the experimental R&D licence, Apollon is allowed to undertake cultivation, assessment, study, research, development and testing of products derived from all or any part of the ganja plant.
This includes analytical services to test the potency and quality of its medical ganja products, as well as allowing clinical trials to be performed with the approval of the Jamaican Ministry of Health.
Commenting on the CLA renewing its licences Apollon’s Chairman and Chief Executive Stephen D Barnhill, MD said he was “very proud of our team for having met all of the very stringent CLA requirements” to facilitate approval of the licenses.
According to him, “Apollon is one of few companies in Jamaica to receive approval for all three of these vertically integrated medical cannabis licenses. The combination of these licences provides the company with an opportunity to continue to successfully implement our business plan and achieve our goal of developing, processing, and manufacturing Apollon’s proprietary formulations.”
The goal also includes selling Apollon’s ganja-derived pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products, treating patients, performing clinical trials, and legally exporting the company’s scientifically validated medical ganja products globally.