Impressive growth rate at DanCann Pharma A/S
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, 15 June 2021 - DanCann Pharma A/S (SS: DANCAN) (“DanCann Pharma” or the “Company”) hereby announce, that the development of the mother plant genetics in BIOTECH-PHARM1, the production facilities inaugurated in April, exceeds the Company’s expectations.
In April, the Danish pharmaceutical manufacturer inaugurated its new production facilities BIOTECH-PHARM1 in Ansager and there is already plenty of activity in the Company's unique cultivation environment. The growth rate of the cannabis plants is high, while the consumption of fertilizers and nutrients is surprisingly low.
“We are now ready to take cuttings from our mother plant genetics, which are put into bloom in our flowering room. From the time we put them in bloom, we expect approximately eight weeks before we can harvest the first batch and have the first biomass sent for analysis. This process will run continuously with initiation every week – i.e., removal of cuttings from mother plant genetics, flowering, and harvest in a course of eight weeks,” says Morten Martinsen, COO and co-founder of DanCann Pharma along with Jeppe Krog Rasmussen.
“We have been very impressed with the growth rate among the genetics - and not least the consumption of fertilizers and nutrients. We use about one-sixth of what is normally used in the industry if one is to achieve similar results. The consumption of fertilizer and nutrients is of course an area that we would very much like to save on, both according to our surroundings and the actual business. And for sustainability reasons, of course," Morten Martinsen points out.
Cannabis plants contain well over 100 active substances - also called cannabinoids - and it is primarily THC and CBD that are traditionally used in industry today. The mother plant genetics that Morten Martinsen and DanCann Pharma have selected all have a separate and unique cannabinoid profile, which the Company tries to differentiate from the industry's usual focus areas. And in fact, DanCann Pharma has in tests identified and nurtured content substances that currently are unique and potentially can influence patients with diseases other than normally associated with treatment with cannabinoids. In biology language, this is called "novel cannabinoids" and is a common term for unique cannabinoid substances that have not yet been sufficiently explored.
“From now until week 51 this year, we expect to be able to roll 13 training batches through our facility. All batches will be tested and analyzed, and on that basis, we will be able to document the results. The criteria of success for the first training batch are to avoid having pesticides present, and once we have completed the process several times, we can start comparing the individual batch results. And then it is important to keep the variation of the results to an absolute minimum. The coming six-month batches are a very important part of our R&D process, which will ultimately end in an approval of DanCann Pharma as a manufacturer,” Morten Martinsen explains.
The level of ambition is high at DanCann Pharma. The Company wants to create a real and legal medical alternative for all those patients who have not received the desired effect of their previous medication. To deliver a qualified, standardized, and clean product prepared according to standards that apply in the manufacture of conventional medicine. And with these ambitions - and with the support of investors in the listed Company - there has been no compromise with the facilities and equipment in the newly established facility.
“BIOTECH-PHARM1 is built on the best practices of the pharmaceutical industry in combination with advanced environmentally controlled cultivation technology and vertical cultivation. This means that the plants are cultivated in boxes on several floors without the use of soil or other media, but with a specially developed system that adds the necessary fertilizers and nutrients. It is also possible to simulate all combinations of temperature and humidity, thereby giving the plants optimal living conditions. We have succeeded in establishing ultimate cultivation conditions for cannabis and have created state-of-the-art facilities that no one else in the industry can match, says Morten Martinsen.
Recently, a political majority in the Danish parliament chose to extend the Danish Pilot Programme for medical cannabis by four years for the patient part, and the scheme was made permanent for the producers. It gives peace of mind to the tailspin of the forward-thinking pharma Company, which is fighting hard and impatiently to get both production and product approvals in place.
“Medical cannabis is an area where research, development and documentation are rapidly moving. We would like the authorities to be much faster, because very many parties - not least the patients - trip impatiently while waiting for approved products. We should speed up the processes with a focus on the large group of people who need help, and who today must resort to alternative methods and products, which may even have to be obtained illegally with all the challenges in terms of content, quality, and price. We must be able to do better, Morten Martinsen concludes.
For further information:
Morten Martinsen, COO at DanCann Pharma, tel. +45 6914 0651
About DanCann Pharma
DanCann Pharma A/S (SS: DANCAN) was founded in 2018 and is a Danish biopharmaceutical Company powered by cannabinoids. DanCann Pharma is a vertically integrated, licensed production and distribution Company based in Denmark. The Company focuses on discovering, developing, manufacturing, and commercializing new therapeutic cannabinoids in a wide range of disease areas.
DanCann Pharma A/S (SS: DANCAN) is listed on the Spotlight Stock Market in Copenhagen.
For further information, please contact:
Jeppe Krog Rasmussen, CEO
E-mail: jkr@dancann.com
Website: www.dancann.com