Bod Australia Limited (ASX: BDA) has begun exploratory formulation work on a new range of cannabis-based cosmetic products through its partnership with leading Swiss herbal extracts company Linnea SA.
Bod a specialist in natural cosmetic sand medicines, said the development work follows the recent signing of a cannabis supply and collaboration agreement with Linnea, with the latter to assist Bod in the development of the cannabis-based topical treatments for inflammation and sensitive skin, including serums, foam-based creams and balms.
Bod Australia CEO Jo Patterson said a key value-driver for the new cosmetic range will be the use of Linnea’s unique NioSkin ingredient as an active ingredient and transporter of the cannabis NioSkin provides superior therapeutic outcomes than standard cannabis cosmetics by efficiently enhancing skin penetration of phytocannabinoids compounds.
Bod plans to begin commercialising and distributing the products to consumers during 2018.
The products will be developed and manufactured at facilities in Italy, and exported to numerous major markets beyond Australia, including Asia and Americas.
Bod says white labelling will also allow it to tap into lucrative skincare markets such as China, which grew to A$33 billion in 20161 and is predicted to become the world’s largest cosmetics market by Morgan Stanley.
“This exploratory formulation work highlights how Bod is now moving rapidly and decisively towards developing a range of unique cosmetic products by leveraging the extensive expertise and research secured through our partnership with Linnea,” Mr Patterson said.
“NioSkin provides Bod with a unique advantage in the marketplace through it’s superior efficacy, uniform dispersion of functional ingredients, rapid skin absorption, enhanced penetration and optimal bioavailability.
“We look forward to working with Linnea to ensure these products have broad based appeal to ensure we capture significant attention in these growing, lucrative markets.”
Over the longer term, Bod plans to further investigate a number of additional opportunities to develop NioSkin -based products for supplementary markets in the future, including topical applications for skin irritations in animals.