William Ransom seeks cannabis boost

NATURAL healthcare company William Ransom is working on producing a cannabis-extract for migraine and rheumatoid arthritis.

The AIM-listed firm is better known for over-the-counter products, ranging from aloe vera-based toothpastes and Radian B muscle rub to Manuca honey, but a move into producing marijuana resins would not be a first for the firm.

Hitchin-based Ransom used to produce extracts of the infamous weed more than 30 years ago, its chief executive Tim Dye told the Evening Standard, until changes to the law prohibited its prescription as a medicine in 1973.

Now a €1.3m (£862,000) grant from the EU to a consortium spearheaded by Ransom has triggered a two-year project to examine if there is a viable market for use in medical therapies.

Earlier this month, GW Pharmaceuticals lost an appeal with UK regulators to allow it to market its cannabis-derived painkiller Sativex for multiple sclerosis sufferers.

Dye said he is working closely with the University of London School of Pharmacy on his project. A further five Continental academic institutions and two small research firms are involved.

He is also taking advice from former chairman Michael Ransom, a by the appointment as a director-of former Olympic swimming champion David Wilkie. Ransom bought his food supplements business a year ago.