LONDON– International medical cannabis company Akanda Corp. (“Akanda” or the “Company”) today announced that it has named Dr. Sunny Nayee as its new UK Medical Director. The appointment of Dr. Nayee, a pain treatment expert with direct experience in cannabis therapies, builds upon the company’s partnership with Cellen Life Sciences by combining one of the UK’s top prescribing doctors of medical cannabis with one of the UK’s first fully-digital pain clinics to greatly expand patient access. At Akanda, Dr. Nayee will be responsible for monitoring and improving the overall level of care provided to medical patients in the UK, as well as helping assess expansion into other international markets.
Dr. Nayee joins Akanda from the Lyphe Group, a cannabis clinical telehealth and dispensing ecosystem, where he served as Medical Director. Dr. Nayee has been prescribing cannabis to his patients since 2019, and currently treats in excess of 1,000 patients. Under his leadership at Lyphe, The Medical Cannabis Clinics became the first ever cannabis clinic to receive a “good” rating from the Care Quality Commission.
“It is an honor to welcome Dr. Nayee to the Akanda team as we work to build the first seed-to-patient model, serving medical cannabis patients in the UK and Europe,” commented Tej Virk, Akanda’s CEO. “Dr. Nayee is a renowned pain treatment expert with direct experience in cannabis therapies. This makes him the ideal face of Akanda for patients. I’m looking forward to having Dr. Nayee by our side as we build a patient-oriented supply chain in the UK and eventually other international markets.”
“My focus has always been on accurately diagnosing patients then giving them access to the best treatment options available,” added Dr. Nayee. “I’m excited to join up with Akanda and Cellen to play a fundamental role in helping to democratize access to medical cannabis for patients in need.”
Dr. Nayee’s role comes at a pivotal time for the company as Akanda recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Cellen Life Sciences, a health tech company that provides treatment to chronic pain patients through its digital pain clinic, Leva Clinic. Sunny will be working closely with Cellen to enable Akanda to better address unmet healthcare needs of patients globally, starting with the UK. The MOU established a formal working relationship to optimize medical cannabis supply chain activities across Cellen and Akanda business interests, to increase supply and choice for patients in the UK.
Dr. Nayee has a distinguished and prize winning career. He trained at Cambridge University Medical School and is on staff at Imperial College Healthcare Trust, London’s Leading University Hospital. Dr. Nayee has been awarded the Industry Leading Canex “Superdoc” Award for being a “been a true advocate for medical cannabis and an adamant educator.” He also holds prizes from the NHS Strategic Health Authority’s innovation committee and Royal College of General Practitioners for work related to patient safety. He presents widely and most recently published research reviewing the safety and effectiveness of medical cannabis treatment for the treatment of chronic refractory pain, including presenting at the National Patient Safety Conference. He continues to work collaboratively with research teams at the University of Sydney Quest Research Group, Drug Science and BOD science. He plays an active role in multiple professional bodies including the British Pain Society, Spinal Interventional Society, World Institute of Pain and the European Pain Federation.
