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Dunbar Pharma Ships First Plant-Derived Dronabinol API to UK Patients
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UK clinicians can now prescribe a pharmaceutical-grade, plant-derived form of dronabinol (the international nonproprietary name for purified delta-9-THC) after Irish manufacturer Dunbar Pharma made its WaterClear THC active ingredient available across the United Kingdom on August 18, 2026, through a supply agreement with IPS Pharma, a licensed UK manufacturer of unlicensed “Specials” medicines.
The launch marks the first time a plant-derived dronabinol active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) has reached the UK market, according to the company’s announcement. Dronabinol has been produced synthetically since the 1980s and sold under brands such as Marinol, but Dunbar manufactures its version from cannabis biomass at an EU GMP-certified facility in Athlone, Ireland, under the oversight of Ireland’s Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA).
Under the agreement, IPS Pharma, a pharmaceutical service provider and licensed Specials manufacturer, produces cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs) formulated with WaterClear THC as oral capsules, oral sprays, and oily solution drops. The finished medicines are supplied in 5 mg and 10 mg capsules, a 25 mg/mL oral dose spray, and a 25 mg/mL oily dropper solution, prescribed where clinicians judge them appropriate for an individual patient.
“Making WaterClear THC, our GMP-certified dronabinol, available through IPS Pharma marks an important milestone in our efforts to broaden access to pharmaceutical-grade cannabinoid medicines,” said Leah Fletcher, Founder and CEO of Dunbar Pharma. “Many patients cannot or do not wish to inhale cannabinoid medicines, and they should have access to suitable alternatives.”
The UK move follows Dunbar’s entry into Germany earlier in 2026, where its dronabinol API is supplied through major wholesalers into a market where the category that includes dronabinol accounted for more statutory health insurance prescriptions than cannabis flower in 2025, the company reports.
How Plant-Derived Dronabinol Differs From the Synthetic Version
Dronabinol is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in purified pharmaceutical form — the same molecule whether it is synthesised in a reactor or extracted from plant material. Dunbar’s products page differentiates its API from synthetic dronabinol by starting material, not by molecular identity (same CAS number 1972-08-3). Synthetic dronabinol, marketed since the 1980s under brands like Marinol, has been associated in clinical use with slow absorption and considerable variability in patient response, according to Dunbar’s product documentation.
Dunbar’s process starts from cannabis biomass rather than chemical precursors. The company describes WaterClear THC as a chemically defined API manufactured to recognised pharmacopoeia standards, with in-house quality control testing that the company says achieves 96–99% purity, batch-specific Certificates of Analysis, and validated stability under international ICH Q1A guidelines. Because it is a single, chemically defined compound rather than a botanical preparation, the finished medicines allow consistent milligram dosing with minimal compositional variability between batches: the property that distinguishes a pharmaceutical API from full-spectrum cannabis extracts.
The molecule binds to CB1 receptors in the brainstem and is prescribed internationally for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, appetite loss in HIV/AIDS, and certain pain conditions including multiple sclerosis-related pain. Dunbar’s products page lists these patient groups as the therapeutic focus of its API.
The UK’s Specials Pathway, and What It Means for Patients
Neither WaterClear THC nor the finished medicines made from it hold a UK marketing authorisation. They reach patients through the Specials framework, under which a prescriber may order an unlicensed medicine for an individual patient when no licensed alternative meets that patient’s clinical need. The MHRA’s guidance on unlicensed medicines restricts CBPM prescribing to doctors on the General Medical Council’s Specialist Register, and requires supply through licensed manufacturers, importers, pharmacies, or wholesale dealers holding the relevant Home Office and MHRA licences.
That regulatory structure means access is individual and prescriber-led rather than population-level. A Special is not a medicine a patient can request off a shelf; it is manufactured or imported in response to a named prescription, and the prescriber carries responsibility for the clinical decision. IPS Pharma operates as a licensed Specials manufacturer within this framework, producing CBPMs formulated with Dunbar’s EU GMP-certified API and distributing them through its established network to clinicians and pharmacies across the UK.
The practical effect of the Dunbar–IPS agreement is to add a plant-derived, EU GMP-certified dronabinol option to the oral CBPM formulary available through that route, alongside the inhaled flower products that companies such as Tilray have moved to supply directly to UK patients.
What the Company Reports About Its Scale and Backing
Dunbar Pharmaceuticals — legally Mercury Rising Ltd. — describes itself as Ireland’s first EU GMP-certified manufacturer of plant-derived cannabinoid APIs. The company says its Athlone facility can produce more than 220,000 units annually, and that it has engaged with regulators including the HPRA and the European Medicines Agency since 2021.
The UK launch follows recognition as Emerging Company of the Year at the 2026 BioPharmaChem Impact Awards. Dunbar is a high-potential startup client of Enterprise Ireland, the Irish government’s trade and innovation agency, which supported the company through its HPSU Programme in 2025. Enterprise Ireland CEO Jenny Melia said the UK availability of WaterClear THC “is a significant achievement and a testament to the company’s ambition, innovation and commitment to individualised patient healthcare.”
Dunbar’s dronabinol is manufactured exclusively for pharmaceutical use, not consumer or wellness products. Its GMP certificate (35486/ASR13213/000001) is verifiable on the EudraGMDP public register, according to the company.
