We grow the highest quality medical cannabis

Czech experts were successful at the leading conference focused on the European cannabis market, Cannabis Business Europe 2024. Presentation leader Václav Trojan from the St. Anne's University Hospital (FNUSA) and experts from the Zenplanto medical cannabis cultivation facility impressed the audience with their contribution on in vitro cultivation techniques in a clean laboratory environment.

As medicinal cannabis becomes a classic pharmaceutical product, it is necessary to maintain strict standards and ensure its continued availability. The days when the cultivation of medicinal cannabis was seen as a purely plant-based production are long gone. However, the experience of the market is that no grower is currently able to consistently supply cannabis (cannabis flowers) with a guaranteed and standardised content of active substances.

In vitro yields standardized harvests

Thanks to the in vitro technique, plants can be grown completely free of viruses, fungi and other contaminations. At the same time, it makes it possible to achieve standardised values for each plant and harvest. "In cases where genetics are not tested at the beginning of cultivation, it can happen that the virus breaks out after several harvests and you lose the whole line," Dr Václav Trojan, who is one of the leading pioneers in research on cannabis for medicinal purposes, warned of the risks of traditional cultivation. "The in vitro technique solves these problems and ensures high quality and standardized products at every harvest," He adds. And it is in the production for medicinal purposes that standardisation is key.

"For example, in the German market there was a great demand for varieties with 30% THC content for pain management. But none of the growers were able to guarantee such a value. In practice, this means that the attending physician adjusts the patient's dose and there is no clear standardisation in the process," Aleš Hrabák, a pharmaceutical expert and one of the founders of the Zenplanto medical cannabis cultivation company, gives an example from practice.

First study yields results

Experts agree that large-scale clinical trials demonstrating the benefits of medical cannabis will be essential for its widespread use. "Thomas Skovlund, CEO of STENOCARE A/S, presented the first data from Denmark at the conference. Already these show that cannabis treatment can reduce treatment costs by 14 % compared to standard treatment," Aleš Hrabák shared an interesting fact from the conference.

The conference in Frankfurt also focused on the development of the German market. Following a recent change in legislation, the complications with the handling and distribution of cannabis as a narcotic substance have been removed. The market there is also expected to grow by more than 20 % between 2023 and 2024. Another interesting topic was the situation in France, where after a two-year pilot programme for 2,000 patients, medical cannabis will be fully legalised from January 2025. By contrast, in Denmark, where only extracts are allowed, the market is growing very slowly.

Zenplanto experts represented their close cooperation with leading experts such as Dr. Václav Trojan from FNUSA and Dr. Anna Rozkowska from the University of Gdansk, who is involved in the development of sensors for determining flower maturity. Thanks to such partnership projects, experts can bring innovative approaches to ensuring the production of high-quality and standardised medicinal cannabis products.

About Cannabis Business Europe 2024

The annual conference focuses on the latest developments and trends in the European cannabis industry. Key topics include regulation and legislation, production technologies, business opportunities and market trends. Participants are experts from various fields such as producers, researchers, regulators and entrepreneurs who share their experiences and innovations to foster collaboration and growth in the medical as well as recreational cannabis industry in Europe.

About Zenplant:

Zenplanto was founded in 2022. We focus on the healthcare sector, specifically the production of cannabis-related goods and services. The project is co-founded and majority owned by eMan Innovations, a venture capital fund focused on domestic and international technology projects with global potential and backed by the technology company eMan. eMan is a leading Czech software supplier, and its shares have been publicly traded on the PX Start market of the Prague Stock Exchange since 2020. More on www.zenplanto.com a www.zenplanto-farms.com.

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This year, the Brno Planetarium once again hosted leading Czech and foreign experts on cannabis and research. They discussed cannabis legislation and the use of cannabis in medical practice.

The conference, organized by the International Centre for Clinical Research, a joint workplace of St. Anne's University Hospital and the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University, offered a comprehensive and, above all, scientific perspective on this issue. "During the conference, we not only presented the development of research on medical cannabis, but we also wanted to contribute to the demythologization of cannabis as such," said Václav Trojan, the organizer of the event and head of the Cannabis Facility at the International Clinical Research Centre (ICRC).

"Thanks to our participation, we had the opportunity to promote and share knowledge in the field of medical and pharmaceutical innovation. We were able to network with key experts in the field and share our perspectives on medical cannabis innovation," commented Aleš Hrabák, one of the founders of Zenplanto, the general partner of the 9th annual conference.

Accredited course, a novelty of Brno experts

A busy programme with top experts from all over the world was prepared for the participants. The prestigious conference was held under the auspices of Ing. Vlastimil Vajdák, Director of St. Anne's University Hospital in Brno, who gave the opening speech.

A novelty was the introduction of the newly opened accredited lifelong learning course at Masaryk University "Cannabis in Health and Disease". In cooperation with the ICRC and St. Anne's University Hospital, the first year of the course was successfully organized. It should promote interdisciplinary cooperation in particular.

Will legislation change in the Czech Republic?

Experts such as Lumír Hanuš, the chemist and scientist who isolated anandamide, and Richard Rokyta, a neurophysiologist, have contributed their findings. Alexandra Šulcová, a pharmacologist from Brno, discussed the therapeutic potential of CBD. Jindřich Vobořil, national drug coordinator, presented plans to change cannabis legislation. A strictly regulated cannabis market would, in his opinion, provide better control and reduce health risks. "The regulated market has not yet led to an increase in cannabis use in any state," He pointed out.

Jitka Götzová, Director of the Food Safety Department of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic, led a discussion on CBD and HHC. A delegation from Israel was also present, including Ilya Reznik, President of the International Cannabinoid Therapy Association and Nirit Bernstein, an agricultural engineering expert.

International cooperation

The Cannabis Facility under the FNUSA-ICRC enables connections with foreign experts, for example, on topics of high school theses. One of them was shared by student Eva Matěnová from the Blansko Gymnasium, who collaborated with colleagues from the Medical University of Gdansk.

Research and education are examples of an advanced and developed society. Supporting them also makes sense in terms of investment in the future. That is why Zenplanto supports the scientific and research exchange of the Cannabis Facility, currently with Gdansk for example.

Our experts managed to establish a unique cooperation with the Polish university. The cannabis market there is in its infancy, so the experts are both helping with its development and, for example, jointly developing procedures on how and when to determine the optimal maturity of plants grown for the production of medicinal cannabis.

"We would like to thank all participants, organizers and partners for their great cooperation and we look forward to meeting again next year, during the 10th anniversary," commented Aleš Hrabák from Zenplanto.

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Zenplanto has strengthened its market position and obtained the Decision on the Authorization for the Distribution of Medicinal Products. Thus, it becomes one of the few Czech companies that supply quality medical cannabis to pharmacies and other entities authorized to produce medicinal products.

The licence allows the Czech cultivation company to supply medical cannabis directly to pharmacies, where it is prepared to patients' specifications according to doctors' prescriptions. In the future, it will be one of the few cultivation plants that supply its cannabis to the local market. Currently, Czech patients are mostly prescribed cannabis from foreign distributors.

Quality guarantee
GDP, or Good Distribution Practices, guarantees that Zenplanto only distributes cannabis produced by duly licensed entities and is also supplied to verified customers such as pharmacies and other distributors. At the same time, it is protected from any quality deterioration during transport.

"The GDP authorisation is crucial to reassure our customers of the quality and safety of our products. It also allows us to manage our supply chains more efficiently and to control quality, which is essential for compliance with legislative standards in the field of medicinal cannabis," comments Petra Honsů from Zenplanto's Quality Assurance Department and Qualified Person for Distribution.

The GDP involves thorough control and compliance with strict standards and regulations, including the Medicines Act, the Medicines Manufacturing and Distribution Ordinance and the European Union's Good Distribution Practice Guidelines. "We have implemented a quality system and procedures to ensure continued compliance with these regulations. An effective quality system includes, among other things, regular staff training or internal audits," adds Honsů.

Legislation is still ambiguous
Despite the positive changes, legislation on medicinal cannabis remains partly complicated. Zenplant experts point to the complexity of implementing some of the legislative requirements, which are often made more complicated by the specificities of cannabis. "Although general requirements apply to cannabis as to medicinal substances, and partly also to medicinal products, their interpretation is not always clear. However, SÚKL is very helpful in the certification process, which applies both to the GDP and GMP certification, which we have also obtained," concludes Honsů.

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