Cannabis company seeks $6m for trials
New Zealand’s first medicinal cannabis company is about to ask the public to buy into its plans.
Hikurangi Enterprises has 5000 plants ready for harvest in Ruatoria, north of Gisborne.
If the Government passes medicinal cannabis legislation this year to allow for the commercialisation of medicinal cannabis crops, Hikurangi would be the industry’s first legal grower.
The Green Party’s Medicinal Cannabis Bill will have its first reading in Parliament next week on January 31.
Hikurangi plans to launch a $2 million crowdfunding campaign on PledgeMe on February 20. It is also seeking another $4m from a single investor.
The money will be used to fund cannabis processing facilities and conduct two clinical trials for a medicinal cannabinoid oral spray.
Hikurangi managing director Manu Caddie said if the spray was proved to be safe, it could be sold through pharmacies this year.
Hikurangi has an industrial hemp licence to extract cannabinoids from cannabis plants.
‘‘At the moment we cannot sell a commercial crop, but we can grow it for research and development purposes.’’
Caddie said he was confident legislation would be passed, making cannabis a significant New Zealand export.
He was in talks with wholesalers in countries that had already legalised medicinal cannabis, such as Australia, Canada and the United States. Potential deals were in the tens of millions of dollars, he said.
Hikurangi ramped up its cannabis operations last year when the Government developed legislation on medicinal cannabis and public perceptions shifted to support it.
Caddie said Hikurangi would initially have a monopoly in the industry, but he expected other commercial growers to set up around New Zealand.