Plant a pot of gold for cannabis giant
HEADS of an ASX-listed company looking to hit the budding market of medicinal cannabis say their operation will grow the Gold Coast into a pharmaceutical hub.
The Hydroponics Company, which listed on the ASX under the code THC a year ago, has bought a mothballed plant at Southport, which already possesses utensils required to produce medicines that can help patients across Australia.
The Southport plant was previously owned by Danish group Leo Pharma, which was making skin cancer treatments from botanical extracts until it shut down at the end of last year.
THC has bought the warehouse, among the largest of its kind in Australia, its land and the full suite of equipment at the blazing bargain price of $2.55 million.
It will retain some specialist staff from the previous pharma operation.
It hopes the Federal Government’s apparent openness to explore exports of medicinal cannabis products will boost their chances of expansion.
The bulk of the plants used in THC’s product will be grown in Bundaberg by the company’s fully owned subsidiary, Canndeo, while the company has also announced plans to expand production into Canada.
Canndeo CEO Andrew Beehag said the group hoped to manufacture full-spectrum extracts on the Gold Coast, using many of the cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids present in the cannabis sativa plant, as well as extracts using high-purity individual cannabinoids.
“Both are potentially useful in future cannabis medicines,” he said.
“In Australia, these medicines are doctor prescribed, they’re unapproved medicines, so we are not making any therapeutic claims but doctors and patients have used these for epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, they are being considered in palliative care.
“The other major one that’s considered in Australia is nausea associated with chemotherapy. In overseas jurisdictions there are other areas of interest — Parkinson’s disease and PTSD.”
THC corporate adviser Ken Charteris said finding the Southport facility was pure luck, which struck through word of mouth.
Dr Beehag, who holds an engineering-related PhD but has spent 20 years focusing on new industries, said the company would not actively seek regulatory changes.
“We work within the system that is in front of us — if change comes, obviously we will move with that change but, right now, I think the industry is young, the doctors are considering these medicines.”
The company hopes to start production at the Gold Coast site within the next 12 months, subject to regulatory approvals.
THC reported a March quarter revenue increase of 31 per cent from the December quarter, to $1.08 million.
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