The Hydroponics Company lines up route to cannabis market
The Hydroponics Company is rapidly advancing towards medicinal cannabis producer status.
Medicinal cannabis developer The Hydroponics Company (ASX: THC) has provided an interim update to the market regarding its rapid progress towards becoming a fully-fledged medical cannabis producer.
The company says its recent acquisition of a pharmaceutical biomanufacturing facility and entering into the binding term sheet with Meluka Health will provide a US Department of Agriculture organic certified site for cultivating organic medicinal cannabis crops in northern New South Wales.
The Hydroponics Company stated it is at the forefront of developing a leading, diversified worldwide cannabis business, focusing on two core business units: developing high-quality medicinal cannabis and manufacturing hydroponics equipment, materials and nutrients.
In late April, The Hydroponics Company acquired one of the largest pharmaceutical botanicals extraction and refinement plants in the southern hemisphere for A$2.55 million from LEO Pharma – with the development being labelled a “game changer” by The Hydroponics Company chairman Steven Xu.
Adding substance to the hype
As part of its emergence as one of Australia’s most forward-thinking cannabis growers and to add commercial momentum, The Hydroponics Company has obtained the services of two veteran names within the sector to pave the way for its own growth, both inside and outside of the laboratory.
To operate its recently-acquired pharmaceutical biomanufacturing facility in Queensland, The Hydroponics Company has incorporated THC Pharma led by Ken Charteris as executive director. Mr Charteris possesses broad experience in the industry and is also the executive director of The Hydroponic Company’s Canndeo division, bringing with him priceless previous experience having overseen Canndeo’s earlier applications for operational licences and permits.
THC Pharma has also engaged industry veteran Dr Michael Harrison as its API Manager. Mr Harrison is a pharmaceutical engineering professional with 19 years’ experience in bioprocessing and pharmaceutical manufacturing industries.
Dr Harrison was previously employed in the same capacity by LEO Pharma, the former vendor of The Hydroponics Company’s state-of-the-art biomanufacturing facility in Queensland. Dr Harrison will be joined by other former key LEO Pharma personnel who were employed by THC Pharma, to continue to manage the facility as it transitions into production producing high purity medicinal cannabis products for the THC Group.
In addition to tying down the required expertise, THC Pharma is also seeking to expedite its applications to the Office of Drug Control for necessary approvals to both commence processing at the new biomanufacturing facility and relevant applications and licences to enable the growing of organic medicinal cannabis on lush NSW property owned by Jenbrook.
“The Hydroponics Company continues to aggressively pursue its medicinal cannabis strategy to establish full-scale, vertically integrated processing and production of medicinal cannabis. The Hydroponics Company has furthered this through its recent facility acquisition to build production capacity and binding term sheet securing a site for the growing of organic medicinal cannabis,” Mr Xu said.