TTS Pharma and Afrigen Biologics bring water-soluble CBD range to UK and Europe
05 Mar 2021 --- UK-based cannabidiol (CBD) supplier TTS Pharma has inked a manufacturing and supply deal with Afrigen Biologics, a South African biotechnology company in Cape Town. Financial terms of the partnership have not been disclosed.
The tie-up gives TTS Pharma access to Afrigen’s complex water solubility technology needed to expand its private label offering of CBD formulations.
Afrigen’s manufacturing capabilities enable TTS Pharma’s production of CBD distillates and isolates as fully traceable water-soluble bulk ingredients for the F&B and cosmetics industries. These will be marketed as UK and European Novel Food regulation-compliant.
“The UK is miles ahead of the EU in respect of market size and adoption, but CBD remains mostly illegal [across Europe]. Only once validation status has been issued will those products be legitimized,” Mark Tucker, CEO of TTS Pharma, tells NutritionInsight.
“Europe has the heritage and uninterrupted experience of working with hemp, one of the oldest crops known to agriculture. It does not need imports from North America, Latin America or China,” he explains.
TTS Pharma’s full-service offering produces legal and regulated cannabis-derived active agents for R&D, bulk active ingredients and finished goods for wholesale distribution.
TTS Pharma produces legal and regulated cannabis-derived active agents for R&D, bulk active ingredients and finished goods for wholesale distribution.Regulatory highway
From March 31 onward, all CBD finished products must align with a Novel Food application, submitted to both the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) to remain on the EU and UK market.
These new regulation changes will result in increased visibility, traceability and the improved quality of CBD products.
Tucker pegs these changes as a significant achievement for both companies. “It provides our clients access to a proven technology commonly used in pharmaceuticals and increasingly in demand across the food and drinks industries.”
“Border control and effective enforcement would allow a regulated European industry to thrive across all territories – providing regulations are consistently deployed and implemented,” he comments.
“The Novel Food regulations should allow this to take place and allow European companies to operate on a level playing field with their international competitors.”
“The consumer needs higher quality products at a price they can afford. What the industry needs is less bureaucracy and faster reviews to allow high quality dossiers to be presented and approved.”
TTS Pharma sells CBD oils and pharmaceutical grade CBD, proven to be free from both cannabiniol (CBN), delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) and tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV).
The company’s product range also excludes a wide range of contaminants, in line with standards defined by labs accredited by the UK government
Selecting the ideal partner
TTS Pharma is the only UK-based company with Assured Advice, which indicates that it has been given consent from the UK government to place its CBD products onto the local market.
The company tested a wide variety of competing water-soluble CBD offerings, but “none came close” to Afrigen’s proven proprietary technology in terms of delivery, taste and cost.
“We reviewed the global IP landscape of over 300 patents in this space. After shortlisting several technologies, we found Afrigen’s platform to offer the most versatile and most likely to fit our novel food requirements, which include validated and scalable production capabilities,” Tucker details.
“The product’s performance characteristics were also extremely important and needed to demonstrate stability during both the production and packaging process as well as in the finished product format,” he notes.
“Depending on the specifics of each recipe, these can differ significantly and therefore need to be assessed individually prior to launch of the finished product.”
Last December, TTS Pharma introduced two CBD products into the South African market through a partnership with Agribiomed Africa.
By Benjamin Ferrer
