Dunbar Pharma has confirmed that oral sprays prepared from its WaterClear THC dronabinol are now available to UK specialist prescribers through IPS Pharma, giving API manufacturers a live example of one Irish-made ingredient supporting several finished formats across a regulated export market.

The sprays, manufactured by IPS Pharma at its facility in Surrey, join the dronabinol capsules introduced to the UK in August, and both use the API manufactured at Dunbar's Athlone facility under EU GMP certification and supplied under controlled-drug licences in Ireland and the UK.

Dunbar Pharma plans to expand manufacturing capacity at its Athlone site in 2027 and has further plant-derived active substances in development; the API is made through a proprietary process using plant starting material rather than chemical synthesis, which is how most commercial-scale dronabinol is produced.

Dunbar Pharmaceuticals, a privately owned Athlone manufacturer trading as Mercury Rising Ltd, is Ireland's first EU GMP manufacturer of plant-derived cannabinoid APIs, operates under Health Products Regulatory Authority oversight, and supplies regulated markets including Germany and the UK.

IPS Pharma, an MHRA-licensed Specials manufacturer, supplies the dronabinol as 5 mg and 10 mg oral capsules and a 25 mg/mL oral spray to UK clinicians prescribing under the unlicensed medicines framework.

Leah Fletcher, co-founder and CEO of Dunbar Pharma, said: "The UK's first plant-derived dronabinol oral spray is an important milestone for Dunbar." She said the oral sprays alongside capsules mean IPS Pharma is using the API in several finished formats.

The launch reflects a growing pattern of Irish API manufacturers supplying regulated export markets through licensed local partners, letting a single GMP site support multiple finished formats without establishing UK dosage-form manufacturing.

The timing follows Dunbar's German entry earlier in 2026, where, according to IPS Pharma, dronabinol prescriptions have already overtaken cannabis flower within the relevant health insurance category.

For the sector, the Athlone site's location in an industrial park alongside Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Alexion and Novartis shows how specialist API manufacturers are building on established Irish pharma infrastructure.

The wider signal for the sector is that plant-derived, chemically defined APIs are creating a distinct regulated manufacturing niche, where consistent dosing and GMP certification matter more than botanical supply.

Source: yahoo!finance / Business Wire / Business of Cannabis / IPS Pharma