Aurora Cannabis Inc (TSX:ACB) (OTCQX:ACBFF) announced on Wednesday that its Aurora Sky facility has been granted a sales license by Health Canada, significantly increasing availability of both dried flower and derivative cannabis products across all cannabis markets the company is targeting.
The company also said it has received a sales license from Health Canada for the sale of cannabis softgel capsules produced at its state-of-the-art Aurora Vie facility located in Pointe-Claire, Québec.
Aurora and Capcium Inc, the Montreal-based manufacturer that specializes in high-volume softgel encapsulation, have already begun production of softgel capsules which are targeted at the medical, wellness, and adult consumer use markets.
"These new sales licenses are a game changer for Aurora, dramatically increasing product availability and positioning us well to serve the rapidly growing domestic and international cannabis markets," said Aurora Cannabis CEO Terry Booth.
Big news! Aurora Vie gets its softgel capsules sales license and Aurora Sky receives a sales license for dried #cannabis and other cannabis products for medical and adult recreational use. https://t.co/V3bBMQPUSx
— InvestAurora (@aurora_invest) October 17, 2018
"With adult consumer use sales beginning in Canada today these additional licenses enable Aurora to rapidly scale-up production to service the high growth anticipated for this new market," he added.
The company holds a 19.99% ownership stake in Capcium and is Aurora’s exclusive manufacturer of cannabis softgel products in North America.
As the first of its “Sky Class” facilities, Aurora Sky is substantially different from traditional indoor and greenhouse growing facilities because of its use of advanced technologies and automation. That allows Aurora Cannabis to produce an abundant supply of high-quality cannabis and derivatives at low production costs, the company said.
READ: Aurora Cannabis files to list on NYSE in search of institutional investors
Strategically located at the Edmonton International Airport, Aurora Sky is the world’s largest and most technologically advanced cannabis hybrid-indoor production facility.
Aurora Sky, which received its first production license in January, is ramping up to full capacity of over 100,000 kg per annum, which the company believes will be reached by the end of 2018. At full capacity, the company anticipates one harvest every 3.5 days, resulting in over 6 harvests per room per year.
Aurora Sky also features processing, bottling, and automated packaging and labeling capacity, enabling the company to service market demand for high margin derivative products.
READ: Aurora Cannabis triples revenue in 4Q
To date, the mother room and four flower rooms, each measuring 34,000 square feet, have been licensed for production. Approximately 120,000 plants are growing in the facility’s licensed flower rooms. The company has submitted license applications for additional flower rooms and all ancillary system rooms, and will be applying for further production licenses until the entire facility is licensed and populated around late November or early December.
Aurora Cannabis is based in Edmonton, Alberta. It has funded capacity of more than 500,000 kg per annum and sales and operations in 18 countries across five continents. Aurora is one of the world’s largest and leading cannabis companies.
Shares of Aurora Cannabis in Canada were down 1.36% to trade at C$13.79 while its shares in New York fell 2>09% to US$10.58.
Reporting by Rene Pastor, contactable on rene.pastor@proactiveinvestors.com