Hasse Skovbo Knap is a scientific specialist in the company Valcon Medical – talent 100 Berlingske
Hasse Skovbo Knap is a scientific specialist at Valcon Medical, which was established due to the medicinal cannabis pilot programme that came into force in 2018. The company aims to extract oil from cannabis flowers grown in Denmark.
When oil is extracted from a cannabis flower, there are several steps in the process.
Firstly, the cannabis material is refined. Then, the oil is extracted. Next, the oil is purified. And finally, it is formulated into the finished cannabis product. With the production of medicine, it is crucial to ensure that each step in the process is identified and determined through trials and data. Hasse Skovbo Knap was hired to implement this significant development work at Valcon Medical in early 2019.
However, the 34-year-old scientific specialist came to the company with no knowledge of either medical cannabis or the life science industry:
»Hasse, on the other hand, possesses the knowledge and desire to be part of a start-up company as well as the ability to work independently and in a structured way with the tasks that are put on his desk. With his academic approach to the subject, he has, in a short time, managed to find relevant information and, based on this, set up the necessary scientific experiments, which meant that Valcon Medical has now established transparent scientific processes for the extraction of medicinal cannabis oil on an industrial scale,« writes Inge-Lise Hassing, Head of Production at Valcon Medical, in her nomination of the talent.
Hasse Skovbo Knap has thus managed to achieve results that resonate not only in Denmark - but throughout Europe. As a result, Valcon Medical has gained a leading position in Europe as the first authorised contract manufacturer of medicinal cannabis oil.
»The medical cannabis law has only been in place for four years - and compared to the timescales commonly seen in pharmaceutical product development, where a drug can take up to 30 years to find its way onto pharmacy shelves, Hasse and the entire production team at Valcon Medical managed to establish clear process parameters and achieve a product that has now been submitted to the Danish Medicines Agency for authorisation to sell the product to Danish and European patients in just two years,« adds Inge-Lise Hassing.
About Talent 100
This is the 18th time that Berlingske has selected and portrayed 100 talents in Danish business and the public sector. Young people who can do something special. Those who move the society we know and build. The young people who dare and the young people who want to.
References
34-årige Hasse er med til at udvinde olie fra en ganske særlig blomst (berlingske.dk)
