Khiron Life Sciences (TSXV: KHRN) (OTCQB: KHRNF) (Frankfurt: A2JMZC) has started construction of a cultivation and processing facility in Juan Lacaze, Uruguay.
The 105,486-sq.-ft. state-of-the-art facility will have a production capacity of 17 tons per year and will help the company keep supplying regularly cannabis to key international markets, including Brazil and Europe.
Uruguay Cannabis Plant
The cultivation area and processing plant will include 8,000 m2 of covered area for cultivation, where controlled conditions of irrigation, temperature, humidity and light will be implemented for optimum crop development.
An 1,800 m2 processing plant will also be built on site for drying and processing crops following pharmaceutical-grade design standards. The facility will be built to meet the requirements of Good Agricultural Practices and Good Manufacturing Practices.
“With construction of our facility in Juan Lacaze, we are actively executing on our strategy to build a dominant position in Latin America and further expand our global reach,” Khiron CEO Alvaro Torres said in a statement.
Construction is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2020.
Cannabis in Uruguay
Uruguay was the first country globally to establish cannabis legislation. Construction of the cultivation and processing facility follows Khiron’s acquisition of NettaGrowth International and its subsidiary Dormul S.A., which obtained the first license in Uruguay to produce and export medical cannabis with THC for commercialization.
Khiron has also begun pre-clinical studies in the country as part of an initiative co-sponsored by the government of Uruguay using the company’s strains. Identified as one of the most significant private-public medical cannabis studies underway in Latin America, the research program has received matching government funding for its medical innovation.
“Through its inclusion in the Mercosur trade bloc, Uruguay is poised to become a key source to supply the global medical cannabis industry. Our production in the country will target domestic use in Uruguay and export across one of the world’s largest trading blocs, beginning with export to Brazil, home to 208 million people, and from there, we expect to move quickly across the bloc’s trading countries in Latin America,” CEO Torres stated.