Huddersfield-based Woodley BioReg has joined a partnership which offers expertise in setting up commercial operations for the cultivation of medical cannabis.
Growing cannabis legally in the UK is a complex undertaking but the benefits of medical cannabis in helping some patients is starting to be more widely recognised.
Woodley BioReg, a regulatory affairs consultancy, has joined CROP17, a group of companies involved in cannabis facility planning, construction, licensing and operation within the UK and Europe.
As a CROP17 partner, Woodley BioReg will provide support with pharmaceutical regulatory affairs and quality assurance.
Woodley BioReg joins global real estate services provider Savills; horticultural engineering and construction leaders Cambridge HOK; specialist security service provider Subrosa Group; and commercial cannabis sector experts Hanway Associates in the CROP17 partnership.
CROP17 greatly reduces the risks involved in developing a commercial cultivation operation by providing skills and expertise.
The European medical cannabis market is set to be worth more than €350 million in 2022 and to exceed €1.4 billion by 2025.
Prescriptions in the UK medical cannabis market increased by nearly 900% over the course of 2021, and the market is projected to exceed half a billion euros by 2026.
UK medical cannabis has begun to attract mainstream attention from investors in sectors such as food security, infrastructure and agriculture.
Ash Ramzan, principal consultant at Woodley BioReg, said: “As the yew tree was for Taxol, the foxglove was for digitalis and the poppy has been for pain relief, the pharmaceutical industry is starting to recognise the potential wide range of medical uses of the cannabis plant.
“We’re excited to be working to help to develop cannabis medicinal treatments for currently under-served medical conditions.”
Charlotte Bowyer, head of advisory at Hanway Associates, said: “The domestic UK medical cannabis market is on the cusp of real momentum.
“Over 1.7 million Brits are using black market cannabis for a medical condition, underscoring the immense scale of opportunity for safe, regulated and accessible medicinal cannabis in the UK.
“We’re delighted to welcome Woodley BioReg’s expertise into CROP17 to help build capacity in this vital sector, and look forward to working closely with them to bring high-quality medical and pharmaceutical cannabis ventures to life.”
