Afriplex is to launch KannaSpectrum in Las Vegas, Nevada at the SupplySide Global 2026 expo taking place from 28 – 30 October 2026. It will also be showcasing its extensive range of botanical extracts to international ingredient buyers, formulators and brand owners.
KannaSpectrum is Afriplex’s trade-marked, standardised extract of Sceletium tortuosum, the indigenous South African plant commonly known as kanna.
Developed for nutraceutical and functional product applications, KannaSpectrum offers a consistent mesembrine-type alkaloid profile, with opportunities for incorporation into gummies, powders and other oral formats. Afriplex can be found at Booth 113 at the an invites visitors to book an appointment at info@afriplex.com to explore KannaSpectrum’s specifications, formulation possibilities and relevance to products focused on emotional wellbeing and calm.
Afriplex founder and Director, Danie Nel says a key sales focus will be on Afriplex’s pharmaceutical gummy capability: specifically sceletium gummies made with KannaSpectrum as a private-label offering for brand owners.
US is a potentially huge market for finished pharmaceutical and wellness products
Nel tells Cannabiz Africa that Afriplex chose Las Vegas to launch KannaSpectrum because of the existing footprint in the USA market and strong relationships with key customers serving the USA market.
“We experience significant new business for finished pharmaceutical and general wellness products. The USA market is untapped and will offer real growth opportunities for South African businesses irrespective the outcome on AGOA. Diplomatic relationships with USA will be mended once political stability is achieved in South Africa. We invest in the future.”
The Las Vegas marketing drive coincides with the relaunch of Afriplex as an integrated botanical science innovation company, combining botanical science, formulation development, analytical testing, regulatory affairs, stability services, and GMP manufacturing within a single organisation.
Nel says that to get to this point, Afriplex has invested heavily in technology and research to offer a world class full botanical, pharmaceutical and manufacturing portfolio under one roof.
“Early on, we made a deliberate decision to invest in science, building advanced laboratories, developing proprietary extraction processes, and assembling a team of specialists dedicated to quality and innovation. This foundation allowed us to move beyond raw materials, into standardised extracts and ultimately into finished product formulations.”
The challenge of translating African plant medicine into pharma products
“From the beginning, we recognised a fundamental challenge: while Africa’s medicinal plants hold extraordinary promise, their effectiveness is often limited by inconsistency, lack of standardisation, and insufficient scientific validation” says Nel. “Afriplex was created to bridge that gap, bringing together indigenous plant knowledge and pharmaceutical-grade science to create products that are both natural and proven”.
Over time the Paarl extraction business expanded its capacity and has grown into a fully integrated botanical innovation and manufacturing platform.
“By integrating cultivation, extraction, formulation, and manufacturing, we created a seamless “plant-to-product” model, thereby ensuring consistency, traceability, and control at every stage. This approach not only strengthened our scientific credibility but also enabled us to build long-term partnerships with leading pharmaceutical and health-focused companies” says Nel.
“This control enables us to deliver consistency, speed and scientific reliability in a continuous pathway from early-stage innovation to global commercial supply” he says.
Afriplex focused on white-labelling its core capabilities
He says that Afriplex offers third party support in sourcing, cultivating and extracting botanicals, including analytical testing and stability studies, formula development and standardization, as well as regulatory support.
“We have expanded into advanced dosage forms, including pharmaceutical-grade gummies and liquid formulations, and entered the regulated cannabis sector, thereby applying our botanical expertise to new, high-growth categories” says Nel.
He says the Afriplex’s core manufacturing capability is in liquid dosing forms, particularly oral, topical and nasal products. It manufactures solutions, suspensions, emulsions, syrups, drops, sprays, and topical systems designed for both regulated and consumer health markets, while offering solid oral dosage forms such asconventional and modified-release tablets and capsules, powders, granules, sachets, lozenges and pastilles.
“All these formats support pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and botanical applications” says Nel. “Afriplex has always pushed the boundaries, always pushing the frontier. This includes our investment in world class medicinal cannabis products within the regulatory framework set by SAHPRA. ”
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