Flora Growth Forms Flora Pharma Division, Launches Global Clinical Trials
October 06 2021 - 7:05AM
Business Wire
- Flora Pharma will seek to identify scientific gaps in the
cannabis industry and ultimately work to translate that to
pharmaceutical cannabis products backed by data.
- Flora Pharma’s objective is to create and leverage a
proprietary drug development platform in collaboration with an
artificial intelligence and machine learning group to identify new
bioactive compounds within the cannabis plant that interact with
certain gene targets responsible for specific disease states and
conditions.
- Through collaborative efforts with top scientists in their
respective fields, Flora intends to work with government
regulators, as well as academic institutions to initiate academic
studies in order to reduce costs and efficiently move through drug
discovery, development, and commercialization activities and will
work to create the standard for drug development/discovery for
cannabinoid medicine.
- Flora will conduct thorough due diligence and honor the
traditional FDA and NHS route in scientific processes to ensure
consistency, quality, and delivery of cannabinoids for specific
disease conditions, backed by data, with an initial focus on
fibromyalgia, brain health, pain, and related research.
Flora Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: FLGC) (“Flora” or the “Company”), a
leading all-outdoor cultivator and manufacturer of global cannabis
products and brands, is pleased to announce that it has signed an
agreement to begin scientific clinical trials globally. The focus
of this study will be on the use of cannabinoids in patients
suffering from Fibromyalgia or chronic pain, with the primary
research sites located in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Flora Pharma expects to fast track traditional FDA and NHS
timelines by running phase trials in parallel (in vitro, in vivo,
pilot in human, safety/efficacy, etc.). The Human Pilot Study will
initiate in the UK in coordination with an internationally
recognized clinical research group based at the University of
Manchester, while parallel molecular and pharmacokinetic studies
will be conducted in the US with key scientists and colleagues of
Dr. Annabelle Manalo-Morgan, Flora’s Lead Scientific Advisor. The
immediate next steps are to submit data for ethics committee review
and approval whereupon acceptance, further details will be
provided.
“A paradigm shift is upon us where healthcare practitioners,
researchers, patients, and adult-use consumers are starting to
understand, accept, and embrace the therapeutic potential offered
by phytocannabinoid-based medicine. As such, there is an urgent
need for more research to better understand the molecular and
biochemical effects of cannabis at the cellular level, to begin to
apply its implications as a pharmaceutical drug,” said Dr.
Annabelle Manalo-Morgan, Director and Lead Scientific Advisor of
Flora Growth. “I’m extremely pleased that our team recognizes the
importance and necessity of this research, not only to create and
bring to market novel pharmaceutical cannabis products for patients
around the world that are more efficacious and have a superior
safety profile compared to traditional and incumbent pharmaceutical
treatment options, but to also enhance long-term shareholder value.
While this may seem like an ambitious and costly endeavor, we will
be able to leverage our seed-to-sale platform to supply products
for research and commercialization at incredibly favorable and
competitive price points, while partnering with established
organizations and institutions where additional funding subsidies
are available.”
“Our team is incredibly excited to announce our entry into
cannabinoid science which will help us achieve our goal of
developing pharmaceutical cannabis products while working to
advance global cannabinoid research and become a thought leader in
the space,” said Luis Merchan, President and CEO of Flora Growth.
“Since our inception, the Flora team has successfully navigated
significant barriers to enable the development, manufacturing, and
commercialization of cannabis products in Colombia. Commercial
harvests are well underway and it is now that we’re able to turn
our attention to what we believe is the long-term future of our
industry and to hedge ourselves further against the commoditization
of raw cannabis materials – working to develop a pipeline of
regulatory approved, prescription cannabinoid-based medicines, with
a focus on clinical indications where we’ve identified a
significant unmet medical need. We believe that this initiative
will strengthen and broaden our industry-leading cultivation and
manufacturing platform by allowing us to create novel downstream
pharmaceutical and nutraceutical cannabis products, further
diversify our revenue streams, and drive sustainable, long-term
value creation opportunities, underpinned by high-margins and
covered costs.”
While Flora is focused on its cannabis cultivation and
processing operations in Colombia, as well as utilizing those raw
materials throughout its premium and mindful global cannabis
consumer packaged goods brand and product portfolio, the management
team and board of directors has acknowledged and is committed to
moving ahead with applied research initiatives in medical cannabis,
forming Flora Pharma, in order to become a leader in the discovery,
development, manufacturing, and commercialization of novel,
phytocannabinoid-based prescription medicines and nutraceutical
products to address a broad range of diseases.
About Flora Growth Corp.
Flora is a cannabis company that leverages natural,
cost-effective cultivation practices to supply cannabis derivatives
to its diverse business divisions of cosmetics, hemp textiles, and
food and beverage. As the operator of one of the largest outdoor
cultivation facilities, Flora strives to market a higher-quality
premium product at below market prices. By prioritizing natural
ingredients and value-chain sustainability across its portfolio,
Flora creates premium products that help consumers restore and
thrive. Visit www.floragrowth.ca or follow @floragrowthcorp on
social for more information.
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
This document contains forward-looking statements. In addition,
from time to time, we or our representatives may make
forward-looking statements orally or in writing. We base these
forward-looking statements on our expectations and projections
about future events, which we derive from the information currently
available to us. Such forward-looking statements relate to future
events or our future performance, including: the size of markets
for cannabis and cannabis products; Flora’s ability to execute on
its research and pharmaceutical strategies; the results of Flora’s
research; the collaboration with third parties; and our business
prospects and opportunities. You can identify forward-looking
statements by those that are not historical in nature, particularly
those that use terminology such as “may,” “should,” “expects,”
“anticipates,” “contemplates,” “estimates,” “believes,” “plans,”
“projected,” “predicts,” “potential,” or “hopes” or the negative of
these or similar terms. In evaluating these forward-looking
statements, you should consider various factors, including: our
ability to change the direction of the Company; our ability to keep
pace with new technology and changing market needs; and the
competitive environment of our business. These and other factors
may cause our actual results to differ materially from any
forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements are only
predictions. The forward-looking events discussed in this document
and other statements made from time to time by us or our
representatives may not occur, and actual events and results may
differ materially and are subject to risks, uncertainties and
assumptions about us. We undertake no obligation to publicly update
or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of
uncertainties and assumptions, or the forward-looking events
discussed in this document and other statements made from time to
time by us or our representatives not occurring, except as may be
required by applicable law.
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Investor Relations: Evan Veryard
evan.veryard@floragrowth.ca
Public Relations: Cassandra Dowell +1 (858) 264-6600
flora@cmwmedia.com
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