WA-based MGC Pharmaceuticals has signed a deal with international online retailer Cult Beauty to distribute its cannabis-based skincare range.
Under the agreement, the company’s European subsidiary, MGC Derma, will see 15 of its cannabidiol (CBD) cosmetic products and its Derma Plus skincare range sold on cultbeauty.com from February.
MGC Pharmaceuticals CEO Roby Zomer said the agreement with the beauty e-tailer will provide the company’s Derma division with a new platform to market its “growing range of CBD-based skincare products to a new and more diverse global cosmetics market”.
“Cult Beauty individually and carefully selects each product that is marketed through its site, so we are delighted that they have recognised the efficacy of our products which work with the body’s natural system to support the skin’s response,” he said.
Headquartered in Perth with manufacturing facilities in Slovenia, MGC Pharmaceuticals is a publicly-listed company focused on the global cannabinoids market.
With licenses to grow hemp in Europe and with research projects taking place in Israel, Europe and Australia, MGC provides “reliable products of the highest quality to the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries”.
MGC Derma, its cosmetics division, has partnered with Dr. Burstein Cosmetics, a manufacturer of numerous high-end cosmetic lines, to launch three lines of CBD skincare products – Anti-Ageing, Essentials and Derma Plus.
Although MGC Derma does not claim “any therapeutic and/or medicinal benefits” for its products, it does include “publicly available medical research to educate and inform” consumers about the benefits of CBD on its website.
“The ground-breaking medicinal and pharmaceutical uses recently discovered for Cannabidiol (CBD), one of the active cannabinoid chemicals in the Hemp plant, have also been found to be perfectly suited to cosmetic applications due to the supporting uses of oxidation, antioxidant, anti-ageing, analgesic and anti-anxiety properties,” the company states.
“Studies published by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology have shown that cannabinoids are responsible for production of lipids, and thus play an important role in regulating and treating skin conditions…
“When applied topically to the skin, CBD stimulates activity in the body’s Endocannabinoid system alongside reduction in free radical’s existence, which encourages the skin’s own response, encouraging repair and rejuvenation.
“In addition, Cannabinoids assist to neutralise the harmful free radicals that bombard our skin from UV sources, such as the sun, which cause ageing, cancer and impaired healing. In this way, cannabinoids protect the skin from long-lasting damage.
“CBD also works to increase the rate of absorption of other compounds into the skin, so that together with its own properties, the use of CBD in topical cosmeceutical applications results in healthier, protected, more youthful-looking skin and makes it the ideal basis for a new era of ground-breaking, effective, cosmetic treatments.”
The company began selling MGC Derma (“a skincare and anti-aging line for day-to-day use”) on its website in 2016 and is planning to launch Derma Plus (“a new line of dermatological products”) in the UK, US and Australia this year.
The first Derma Plus product, Herbal Repair Cream (for the treatment of psoriasis) was launched two weeks ago, and two more products, Herbal Balm (for the treatment of acne) and Herbal Replenish Cream (for the treatment of dermatitis) are set to follow shortly.