PROVIDENCE – CBD CLINIC, a subsidiary of Aidance Scientific, a Woonsocket company that develops and manufactures an extensive line of over-the-counter dermatology products, has launched a new array of topical pain treatments. CBD CLINIC’s new line of products combine U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved analgesic ingredients – such as camphor, menthol and lidocaine – with a hemp extract called cannabidiol, or CBD. The products are designed to treat a wide array of muscular skeletal pain, such as that occurring due to arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, general aging, sports injuries, etc.
As the products are nearly free of THC, the substance in marijuana that gets people high, they can be produced in Rhode Island and sold nationally, the company reported. The CBD oil contains less than 0.3 percent of THC, which is below the threshold established by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency; once the oil is put into formulation, it’s diluted to nearly undetectable amounts, said David Goldsmith, co-founder of Aidance Scientific. The company describes the product series thusly: “Doesn’t get you high. Just better.”
Although the retail series of four products is not available yet at sporting goods stores, fitness centers or drugstores, consumers can purchase them on a discounted basis during the company’s crowdfunding initiative, scheduled through January and, perhaps, February. Beyond the crowdfunding, CBD CLINIC has not yet determined whether it will sell the retail series online or exclusively through retail operations, Goldsmith said.
Currently, five products in the professional series – more potent than the retail series – are being sold to health care professionals, including chiropractors, osteopaths and massage therapists, who then sell them to their customers, although the company has not yet tapped the Rhode Island market. “We have not yet had the time to really develop the local market … we’d love to be able to make this [commercial product line] available to health care providers in Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut,” said Goldsmith. Such health care professionals can purchase these products through the CBD CLINIC website or distributors around the country.
Goldsmith, who is also board president and co-founder of Med-Mates, a life sciences technology networking group, told Providence Business News that CBD CLINIC’s products – some are water-based creams and others are oil-based ointments – are different than other companies’ offerings.
“They are the first to incorporate FDA-approved analgesic ingredients [with CBD that are being] produced in an FDA-compliant, FDA-audited manufacturing facility,” he said, noting that Aidance Scientific and CBD CLINIC have the exclusive right to formulate products with the patented Charlotte’s Web CBD. The products’ entire formulation, designed to facilitate skin absorption, offers an alternative, said Goldsmith, that doctors describe as “nothing they’ve ever used before.” The CBD CLINIC products have no competition now in this specific market, as no other company has an FDA-registered product line that combines FDA-approved active ingredients and any cannabidiol, said Goldsmith.
Price points for a professional series range from $25 to $90 for a 1.5-ounce jar, which should last the typical user approximately four to six weeks, and Goldsmith said that many practitioners report that their patients opt for the most potent of these products, at $90. Although some patients are initially hesitant to purchase the products, given the price point, Goldsmith said many have found the products, which have a money-back guarantee, to be more effective than anything else they’ve tried before. Retail prices will range from $49 to $69 for a 1-ounce tube, which should last the typical user one month, he said.
Declining to reveal sales information on CBD CLINIC products, which have been sold since July 2016, Goldsmith said the demand has been much stronger than they expected. Of Aidance Scientific, whose employee base has grown from about 20 individuals one year ago to approximately 33 now, Goldsmith said, “We really believe that the CBD CLINIC line and everything we’re doing has the potential to grow very rapidly … and it’s all being produced here in Woonsocket.” With three full-time employees, CBD CLINIC is supported by Aidance Scientific employees in supply-chain management, marketing, formulation development and other areas, said Goldsmith.
