MGC Pharma on verge of EU approval to sell cannabis cosmetics

Medical cannabis company MGC Pharma with Perth connections is on the verge of official approval to sell its unique cannabidiol-based skincare range in the European Union.

The ASX-listed company said on Monday it had started European Cosmetics Products Notification Portal (CPNP) registration for its marijuana-derived cosmetic line after successfully completing safety assessments, including microbiology and human skin patch tests.

The Perth-based company’s range of dermatological products, based on a non-psychoactive component of cannabis, is used for treating conditions like acne, psoriasis and seborrhoea. The company hopes to market the line to consumers via its MGC Derma online shop and retail outlets as over the counter products.

The announcement of CPNP registration is part of MGC’s push into rapidly expanding global medicinal and cosmetic cannabis markets after Israeli executives, backed by Perth corporate finance players  formed the company in 2015.

MGC co-founder and managing director Nativ Segev said: “The commencement of our registration with the European Cosmetics Products Notification Portal is a significant milestone in the Company’s journey towards commercialisation. Certification will then allow MGC Pharmaceuticals to immediately sell its CBD dermatological skin care products throughout the European Union,” he said.

“Simultaneously, we are pleased to be progressing to clinical tests of our CBD dermatological products in order to demonstrate the efficacy of our formulations. We look forward to updating the market in due course with the results from the tests.”

With CPNP registration underway, the company said it would now move to clinical tests on human volunteers to determine the efficacy of its dermatological product range. A 3-month trial will kick off shortly, the company said.

MGC is unique in that it has two streams of work in relation to medicinal marijuana, a traditional medical research program and its cosmetic arm related to products derived from cannabis with the latter providing funding for the former.

Today’s announcement comes after MGC said last month that it was in a strong cash position of around $6.2 million as at 30 September 2016 and was fully funded to execute its growth objectives.