Co-creating a regulated, trustworthy
medical cannabis industry
About
At AKOS BIO, we’re on a mission to empower South Africans to achieve optimal health and wellness through the use of exceptional quality, locally grown, medical-grade cannabis products. By working with regulators, producers and healthcare professionals, we’ve developed a set of best practice clinical guidelines for the appropriate prescribing of South African medical-grade cannabis products. We’re also pioneering a regulatory framework to enable South Africans to access locally sourced, fully regulated, high quality cannabis products for the first time.
We’ve been exceptionally selective about our supply chain partners. We’ve hand selected the best local products through top local suppliers who all share a similar ethos to us when it comes to quality and standards. We’re also passionate about redefining social norms when it comes to cannabis for medicinal use.
Our long term aim is to make a valuable contribution to the well-being of humanity, both in South Africa and across the world.
Our Team
Our team of medicinal cannabis experts is passionate about helping you navigate your path towards improved health. We’re here to offer knowledge, care and dedicated assistance to every patient we treat.
Connor Davis
Founding Director & COO
A calling to help and heal
Connor’s passion for medical cannabis was born through advocacy and finding an answer to his father’s – and his own – health problems.
“When I was 16 years old, my father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a rare degenerative autoimmune condition. As part of his treatment, he was given a range of pharmaceutical drugs and a prognosis that he’d be in a wheelchair for life. At that point I thought, ‘There has to be a better answer.’
“I began researching alternatives and began making Rick Simpson Oil (RSO), also known as a full-spectrum oil, a cannabis concentrate. Within a year, my dad was showing signs of drastic improvement. We went back to the neurological ward and, after further scans, they found zero lesions on his brain or spinal column. He was in full remission from MS.
“My father’s recovery transformed my life and awakened in me a calling to heal others. I became passionate about learning everything I could about medicinal cannabis. I moved to the Netherlands after high school, and later joined the activism campaign to legalise cannabis in South Africa.
“Then, in my early twenties, I started showing signs of ankylosing spondylitis myself: I woke up one morning and found I couldn’t move properly from my hips downwards. Thanks to the research I’d already done and the knowledge I had through my dad’s health challenges, I knew exactly what to do and began treating myself with medicinal cannabis.The improvement was swift and dramatic.
“Through my experience, I’ve learned that not everyone responds the same way to traditional and conventional medicine, and that there are alternatives out there that have existed for many generations that can really benefit people if they’re open to it.
“Going forward, we face two major challenges: easier access to good and clean medicine in a previously unregulated space, and changing the social stigma about cannabis use for medicinal purposes. At AKOS BIO, we hope to overcome both those barriers to transform treatment options for people who are managing a range of difficult medical conditions.”
Anton Ofield-Kerr
Founding Director & CEO
Motivated to increased medical access
Anton’s drive is to shift social norms about medical cannabis.
“After training as a nurse, I worked at Groote Schuur hospital in Cape Town and then at various hospitals in London in the United Kingdom, specialising in intensive care. Upon my return to South Africa I focused on HIV treatment, including helping set up some of the first HIV treatment clinics in the country. I did this both to save lives as well as to demonstrate that it was possible to provide antiretrovirals in an African context. I then moved on to several other initiatives that increased access to medicines that would help and heal. In doing this work, I was often involved in addressing the policy barriers that are often a hindrance to accessing medicines that can help in the healing journey.
“What excites me most with AKOS BIO is solving the problem of making quality, medical-grade cannabis products available in South Africa, where up until now it’s all been exported. Over the course of doing the research for our company, I’ve been constantly amazed at the healing potential of medical cannabis and its products. Working on a set of quality products that can help people make informed decisions around their health and their care is inspiring to me.
“I’m also excited by the concept of shifting social norms about medical cannabis: while up to now it’s been seen as unregulated or alternative, it should really be placed within the menu of options people have for a range of health issues.”