Made Especially for Children, CBD Carmen’s Kids Arrives First in Brazil

By Sechat Content / Charles Vilela

Brazil was chosen as the country for the launch of the first cannabidiol (CBD) product designed for children. Carmen’s Kids, which has been on the market for just over a week, is a broad spectrum oil made from CBD available in a concentration of 3000mg/ml. 

With the challenge of offering a product more pleasant to children's taste and thus facilitating adherence to treatment, Carmen’s Kids, developed by Carmen’s Medicinals, has a strawberry flavor. Additionally, it is presented in colorful and distinctive packaging to serve as an emotional attraction for children at the time of medication use.

While being THC-free (Tetrahydrocannabinol) - which ensures greater safety in use - its formulation is broad spectrum that does not isolate CBD, ensuring the entourage effect occurs. This characteristic is increasingly advocated by doctors due to treatment results, allowing interaction between CBD and other medicinal substances from cannabis. “The idea was to develop a product that had the benefits of the whole plant, except for THC, offer a pleasant taste for children, and arrive in colorful packaging so that taking the medicine became a more enjoyable moment,” highlights Ricardo Pettena, executive director of Carmen’s Medicinals in Brazil. 

The product's conception arose from the observation work of the Carmen’s Medicinals team in the national market through the relationship maintained with prescribing physician consultants of the company. “Talking to doctors, we realized that children often resist adhering to treatment because the product's taste is not pleasant, always requiring some convincing effort from parents,” he says. “We combined this aspect of adherence difficulty with the prevalence of childhood diseases - among them some syndromes where the products used need to be THC-free - but we maintained the beneficial interaction between other cannabinoids and components of the plant.” Additionally, Pettena cites the struggle of Brazilian parents for access to products for treating pathologies such as autism, epilepsy, and rare syndromes as inspiration for the product's development. 

In addition to the pleasant taste, Carmen’s Kids has a differentiated price 

According to the company, the launch of Carmen’s Kids comes to market at a price 20% to 30% lower than conventional products with the same CBD concentration. According to Pettena, while Carmen’s Kids is sold for R$ 649.90 without shipping costs, the cheapest similar traditional product from competitors would cost at least R$ 880.00. 

Thus, patient access to treatment is facilitated, which, in a way, ends up impacting the market itself. “The commercialization of Carmen's Kids follows Carmen’s Medicinals' pricing policy: to offer products always cheaper than the competition to increase access to cannabinoid therapy,” he states. “Not coincidentally, it was from Carmen’s Medicinals' entry into the Brazilian market that competitors' prices dropped and promotions began to emerge.” 

Quality assurance and the pursuit of increased access are in Carmen's Medicinals' DNA 

The mission of Carmen's Medicinals is to provide high-quality products at an affordable price to as many patients as possible. Thus, the production processes follow strict international standards. The company was one of the first in the medicinal cannabis segment to offer a QR Code that allows access to the product's laboratory tests that prove its quality level. 

According to Pettena, another relevant aspect is that the products sold in Brazil are, on average, 15% cheaper than those sold in the United States, where production takes place. The cannabis plantations and extraction of oils from Carmen’s are carried out in Colorado, while production takes place in Miami, Florida.

Carmen’s Medicinals supports social actions

Founded in 2018, the company's operation in Brazil began in June 2020. A relevant aspect of Carmen’s Medicinals' action is its philanthropic work. Currently, the company is one of the partners of the CEC 4Kids project, developed by the Cannabinoid Excellence Center (CEC) in São Paulo. The project was launched on October 12 and involves 12 families who receive assistance through facilitated access to medications and medical follow-up for the treatment of childhood diseases with CBD for a certain period of time. 

Additionally, Carmen's is supporting AAPPAD ATAXIAS (Association of Friends, Relatives, and Carriers of Dominant Ataxias). Through the partnership, the association's members will benefit from medical consultations at reduced prices and a 50% discount on the purchase of medications compared to e-commerce prices. Another project that will soon receive support from Carmen’s Medicinals will be developed with APAE (Association of Parents and Friends of Exceptional Individuals) in São Caetano do Sul/SP, which will follow the same model as the CEC 4Kids project.