Medicinal pot drug developing hopeful Bod Australia has nabbed two former Blackmores executives as it “continues to revolutionise the health and wellness sector”.

Bod Australia (ASX:BDA), which amongst other things is testing a cannabis wafer that it hopes could treat everything from multiple sclerosis to anxiety, was this morning hailing its ability to attract industry-leading executives.

Blackmores (ASX:BLK) is a brand most Australians will recognise — it sells health supplements which you will have seen on TV ads and across pharmacies and supermarkets around the country.

Just this morning it posted half-year revenue of $319 million, up 11 per cent, but it lost more than a quarter of its value due to a marginal increase — just 0.4 per cent — in half-year profit.

So perhaps the new Bod Australia appointments — Charles Altshuler as head of finance and Despina Lord as medical science liaison manager — are ready for a new challenge. BDA shares rose 2 per cent on the news to 44.5c.

Bod Australia (ASX:BDA) shares over the past year.

Mr Altshuler was previously financial and operations manager at Blackmores, while Ms Lord spent 15 years as a business development and innovation manager at the company, before spending the last year as an executive at Integria Healthcare.

Bod CEO Jo Patterson said the appointments underpinned her company’s strategy of finding the best talent to lead them forward.

“Charles and Despina’s knowledge, expertise in new product development, international markets, marketing and financial management will greatly benefit the company as it continues to revolutionise the health and wellness sector,” she said.

“We look forward to leveraging their diversified skill bases as we continue to determine the multiple health benefits of hemp and medicinal cannabis in everyday life.”

Bod also took the chance to update investors on its European expansion initiatives and the aforementioned cannabis wafer, saying it has progressed discussions with a number of potential European distributors within the region for its range of natural medicines and medicinal cannabis range, MediCabilis.

It expects to finalise results for the wafer in the coming weeks.