PharmaCielo Wins Colombian Government OK for 10 Tons of High-THC Marijuana Cultivation, Processing, Export of Psychoactive Extracts
Medellin-based PharmaCielo Colombia and its Toronto-based parent company announced July 8 that it won Colombian government authorization to cultivate 10 tonnes of marijuana with high content of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the psychoactive component of pot) and export of medicinal extracts.
The authorization “enables PharmaCielo to produce and deliver psychoactive extracts as part of the three-year extracts agreement the company announced in January [2020], intended for the German market,” according to the company.
“The government’s approval for PharmaCielo to grow, extract and export high-THC medicinal products is a significant milestone that significantly expands our product portfolio and complements our medicinal offerings of CBD oil and isolate,” added company CEO David Attard.
Henning von Koss, president of parent company PharmaCielo Ltd., added that “the truly successful medicinal use of cannabis depends to a great extent on managing its psychoactive and non-psychoactive properties. As we broaden our portfolio through 2020, we will be working concurrently with our customer base and the medicinal community to identify the appropriate formulations and concentrations of cannabinoids and terpenes to meet a variety of market-specific medicinal regulatory needs, and which are sourced from our proprietary strains that provide unique profiles.”
To date, PharmaCielo has developed and registered “30 proprietary strains in the national cultivar, including unique high-THC strains, enabling future production of a variety of psychoactive dominant extracts for medicinal purposes,” according to the company.
So far, PharmaCielo has developed 139 hectares of cultivation capacity in Colombia — part of which is located in Rionegro, Antioquia, east of Medellin.
According to the company, its strategy is “focused on becoming a large-scale value-added supplier to large consumer packaged goods companies, pharmaceutical/wellness companies and other limited partnerships.
Its “phase one” processing and extraction center here can produce 24 metric tonnes/year of refined cannabis oil at a cultivation cost of Cdn$0.04 cents [US$0.03] per gram, thanks to a “natural and consistent 12-hour light cycle and temperate climate” as well as a “highly educated and skilled agricultural workforce” with “generations of experience working in the cut-flower industry,” a major employer in the “Oriente” region east of Medellin.
“Phase two” production facilities would enable extraction capacity to expand to 80-to-100 metric tonnes/year of refined cannabis oil, according to the company.
In its latest financial report, PharmaCielo posted a Cdn$6.8 million (US$5 million) net loss for first quarter (1Q) 2020, an improvement over the Cdn$7.7 million (US$5.7 million) net loss in 1Q 2019. The improvement came from a Cdn$494,000 (US$366,000) boost in gross revenues from sale of cannabis-derived products in early 2020, according to the company.
