After many months of detailed preparation work (and despite the many challenges presented by the pandemic), the onsite collaboration started in June 2020 with the opening of our dedicated laboratory within The School of Life Sciences at The University of Sussex.
The remit of the research being: To investigate effective routes of administration of cannabis-based medicinal products (CBPMs) through the bloodstream relative to several clinical applications. To characterise CBPMs in disease models with particular focus on Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, COVID-19, symptoms associated with sleep deprivation and pain relief. Our CTO, Mazin Nicola, has led the process to achieve Home Office licensing accreditation for our research laboratory, to enable the team to be able to work with Schedule 1 controlled drugs.
Alongside a fantastic team at the University and Principal Scientist Dr Daniel Guest, they worked extremely hard to meet all the extensive and stringent criteria. Subsequently, our Home Office licensing accreditation was achieved in February 2021. We are extremely proud to be one of only a small handful of organisations in the UK that have successfully managed to gain a Schedule 1 licence. This important step enables Mazin and the team to now work in earnest to achieve the research aims