Italy's Health Ministry announced a special decree authorizing the Bio Hemp Farming consortium to produce CBD, enabling pharmaceutical use of hemp-derived cannabinoids.
The consortium includes agricultural research and development company Bio Hemp Trade, which recently opened an industrial hemp processing center, and Palma d'Oro Cooperative, managing 300 hectares of Italian hemp. It is also part of Crystal Hemp, a group developing products to prevent and treat chronic inflammation through formulations acting on the endocannabinoid system.
The consortium said authorization was an important step toward extracting active ingredients for Italian CBD medicines and establishing a certified supply chain.
President Pietro Paolo Crocetta said years of discussions with ministries had sought the best regulatory and safety pathway for selling hemp for pharmaceutical production. He expressed pride at reaching this milestone and said important opportunities were opening for Italy in a growing, strategic international market.
The company could now produce medicines such as Epidiolex, containing high CBD concentrations and proven effective for rare epilepsies. Epidiolex was approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and EMA (European Medicines Agency).
