Ireland’s Dunbar Pharmaceuticals has confirmed that UK specialist prescribers can now access an oral spray made with its plant-derived dronabinol, the first of its kind on the UK market. IPS Pharma manufactures it at its Surrey facility under the Specials framework, just two months after the same partners launched dronabinol capsules in August.
The product itself is a modest addition. What matters is the business model behind it: an EU-GMP certified active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) maker selling a standardised ingredient to a licensed formulator in another country, rather than exporting flower.
What exactly has launched
Dunbar produces dronabinol in Athlone, in the Irish Midlands, and markets it as WaterClear THC. Dronabinol has historically been made by chemical synthesis; the company instead starts from plant material and purifies it into a defined API, with full batch traceability under the oversight of the HPRA, Ireland’s regulator. According to Manufacturing Chemist, the company’s pitch is consistent milligram dosing with little batch-to-batch variation.
IPS Pharma, an MHRA-licensed Specials manufacturer, turns that API into four formats: 5 mg and 10 mg capsules, a 25 mg/mL oral spray and a 25 mg/mL oily solution. Supply runs under controlled-drug licences in both Ireland and the UK, as reported by City A.M..
Why the API matters more than flower
Much of Europe’s medical cannabis debate revolves around flower: falling prices, oversupply and Canadian imports. Dunbar points to a different route. A company that controls a defined pharmaceutical ingredient can supply several formulators in several countries, without depending on the cultivar of the moment or the price per gram.
Oral formats also fit the way several health systems are opening up to cannabis. In Spain, the only monograph published so far in the National Formulary, FN/2026/FMT/043, covers precisely an oily oral solution with THC and CBD.
A small company with a big certificate
Dunbar has 25 employees in Ireland, private Irish shareholders and backing from Enterprise Ireland, and plans to expand production in 2027. CEO Leah Fletcher calls the spray a milestone that shows the versatility of a pharmaceutical-grade ingredient. Size matters little when what you sell is compliance: the EU-GMP certificate and controlled-drug licences are the barrier to entry, not cultivation area.
What it means for cannabis businesses
- Extract and API makers: the UK Specials route lets a standardised ingredient reach patients without a full marketing authorisation, always through an MHRA-licensed manufacturer.
- EU-GMP growers: selling pharmaceutical-grade biomass to an API maker is an alternative outlet to an increasingly crowded flower market.
- Distributors and labs: partnerships between an API producer and a local formulator can be replicated in other markets with magistral-formula pathways, such as Spain.
- Investors: process know-how and certification count for more than square metres of greenhouse.
On the agenda in Bilbao
The pharmaceutical supply chain, from API to finished format, is one of the core themes of Spannabis B2B Bilbao 2027, the International Cannabis Business Forum taking place on 11 March 2027 in the VIP Hall at BEC. If you manufacture, formulate or distribute, this is where deals like Dunbar and IPS Pharma’s get done: get your ticket or book a B2B table to meet buyers and partners.