Cann Global and IDT Australia are making great strides as they race towards bringing to market locally produced and manufactured medical cannabis products.
After making a raft of announcements and signing major deals last year, it appears that Cann Global is well on its way to delivering on its goal of bringing to market pharmaceutical-grade cannabis resin and medicinal products as early as March this year.
In the latest announcement, Cann Global announced that they have already started making cannabis extract from their already harvested and tested dry flower produce. The resin being processed at the moment can be sold as is to be used as a raw ingredient for cannabis and medical products or it can be directly processed for the manufacture of cannabis-based medicinal products.
Cann’s CEO said of the milestone “This facilitates the manufacture of finished product formulations and puts us a step closer to launching our own locally sourced and produced range of medicinal cannabis treatments to satisfy both domestic demand and to help develop valuable export pathways,”.
Of course, Cann Global wishes to produce medicinal cannabis products and that is why they partnered with IDT Australia. IDT is a huge pharmaceutical manufacturer and will be responsible for turning Cann Global’s raw cannabis product into resin and then into useable GMP grade medicinal oils and products. According to the latest reports from IDT, resin extraction is in high gear. That will be followed by stability tests before the resin can then be exported or processed further.
The market has undoubtedly been watching these two companies and their progress closely. And evident to this, the share market price for Cann Global stock (AX: CAN) spiked a whopping 37% in a single day upon the revelation that the first locally harvested and processed resin will be ready in just a matter of weeks.
It is not clear just how much product Cann Global will have ready for the market just yet. As of the start of December 2019, the firm had confirmed over 40 harvests through its CEO. As of the end of the same month, the firm had about 51 confirmed harvests. Compared to other competitors in the industry such as THC and Althea, Cann is clearly in the lead in terms of its production volumes. CEO Peter Crock has been consistently clear that the firm is aiming to commercialize its operations in a big way. And unlike their smaller rivals, they have the advantage of having been in the market longer so they have the skills and the knowledge that trying out different production methods over time offers.
Cann’s market dominance in the cannabis market is evident and was clearly seen in its 2018 quest to set up a huge processing plant at Melbourne Airport, one capable of handling a massive 70 tonnes of product. Plans to acquire the proposed site did not bear fruit and Cann Global was of course forced to opt for a plan B which led them to redirect their sights to another location in Mildura. Now the firm is strategizing the construction phase of this new plant as commercialization shifts to 5th gear. But the firm plans to scale down its construction into phases and start with an assembly that can handle just 25 tonnes of product for now. This is due to a slight issue with their Canadian export partner Aurora Cannabis Inc. who is supposed to buy their excess product. According to Aurora, they are delaying their expansion plans by a year, a move that will complicate Cann Global’s bigger plans, albeit temporarily.
In regards to that, Cann’s CEO says ““Given the context, it is only prudent that we carefully assess the appropriate staging of construction to help ensure capacity is aligned to global demand and is delivered on a basis that reflects a responsible use of shareholder capital”.
But once the manufacture of the GMP grade cannabis resin and oils is ready thanks to IDT Australia and their $33M might, Cann will roll out its product to thousands of Australians through another strategic partner – Symbion Health. Symbion boats a great distribution network in Australia that comprises 4,000 retail stores and 1,300 hospital pharmacies. This distribution will indeed be pivotal for Cann’s plans to conquer the market and put the first locally-made pharmaceutical-grade cannabis oils and products in the hands of its consumers.