Botanical Holdings, the investment holding company focusing on the legal medicinal cannabis industry, said its subsidiary, CECO Wellness is starting civil engineering works for its new medicinal cannabis cultivation and processing facilities in Portugal.
CECO, which is part of the group's EuroCan division, plans to produce products for the international pharmaceutical and medicinal marketplaces from the facilities in the municipality of Mação after a 31-hectare site was acquired, gaining of pre-licensing approval and the awarding of a €4.3mln local grant.
The new facilities will initially include a 5,000 sq metre medicinal cannabis greenhouse, a 3,600 sq m ancillary/support facility for operations including Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) accredited manufacturing, processing, cultivation support services and warehousing.
In the second phase, the development is planned to expand the greenhouse footprint to 20,000 sq m.
Botanical Holdings, which recently raised £4.5mln in pre-IPO funding, has already completed the construction of its 2,800 sq m greenhouse and processing facility at its first site, in Lesotho, earlier this year, with EuroCan already undertaking test growing cycles there.
Samples have already been delivered samples to an independent testing laboratory to test growing cycles, the company said, with independent testing employed to develop and refine its expertise in the cultivation of cannabis for medicinal purposes, as well as enabling EuroCan to achieve good agricultural and collection practices (GACP) accreditation.
EuroCan has chosen to develop sites in both northern and southern hemispheres, in Lesotho and Portugal, to ensure a stable year-round supply of medicinal cannabis to the pharmaceutical and medicinal marketplaces.
Chief executive Carl Esprey said: “EuroCan commencing construction at the Portuguese facility is a major milestone for the ability of Botanical Holdings to deliver a constant supply of medicinal cannabis to the international pharmaceutical and medicinal marketplaces.
“Demand from the medicinal cannabis sector continues to increase as international regulations in major global markets change. This in turn is also increasing clinical research and approvals for therapeutic development of medicinal cannabis. Upon full commissioning of our facilities in Portugal and Lesotho, we will be able to ensure year-round access to cannabis plants, strains and cannabinoids for those researching medical cannabis and its potential to transform the lives of patients.”