The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) published this Friday (17) a resolution that authorizes the marketing of another medicinal product based on cannabis in the country. The new approved product is Cannabis Sativa Alafiamed 200 mg/ml Extract. According to the agency, it is obtained from the plant extract of the cannabis sativa, from a set of plant substances. 
The product, according to Anvisa, is manufactured in Switzerland and will be imported and distributed in Brazil as a finished product ready for use. It will be available as a solution in drops, containing 50 mg/ml cannabidiol (CBD) and no more than 0.2% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is the plant’s priscotropic active ingredient. The drug will be sold in pharmacies and drugstores from the medical prescription through a type B prescription (blue).
“The reported CBD and THC are considered markers in the quality control of these extracts, which are also composed of other substances, such as other cannabinoids and tannins. Plant extracts have a complex composition, and may contain many active substances that can act by different mechanisms in the human body, which makes even more important the control and monitoring applied to these products by the National Health Surveillance System (SNVS)”, highlighted Anvisa.
In total, there are nine cannabis-based products approved by Anvisa and which can be purchased in pharmacies and drugstores. According to Anvisa, these are products manufactured by companies certified as to Good Manufacturing Practices, which were fully evaluated in relation to their quality and suitability for human use.
