Home News DanCann Pharma’s CEO on the new milestone

DanCann Pharma’s CEO on the new milestone

DanCann Pharma’s CEO on the new milestone

17 August, 2021

DanCann Pharma has completed its first successful production run of biomaterial in its recently fully established production facilities, an achievement CEO Jeppe Krog Rasmussen calls a significant milestone towards the final approval of the facilities for production of cannabis biomaterial. BioStock reached out to Krog Rasmussen for a comment. 

DanCann Pharma, a biotechnology company based in Denmark, aims to detect, develop, manufacture, and commercialise new therapeutic cannabinoids for several disease indications where today’s drugs do not provide sufficient efficacy or for which there are no treatment options.

In April, the company’s first high-tech cultivation facility, BIOTECH PHARM1, was commissioned for the cultivation of medical cannabis. In June, the company started the first cultivation activities in the new facility.

The first batch has just been harvested and made ready for further processing. The drying phase is followed by a comprehensive analysis of the results as well as tests for various microbiological conditions, including pesticides.

The CEO comments

Jeppe Krog Rasmussen, CEO DanCann Pharma

BioStock reached out to Jeppe Krog Rasmussen, CEO and founder of DanCann Pharma, for a comment on the milestone and the road ahead.

Jeppe, this batch is the first of 13 planned test batches with the aim to reach a final approval of the facilities for production of cannabis biomaterials. How does this process work?

– This and the upcoming training batches are important steps on our way to achieving our production goals. We can now get actual data for validation of processes, equipment, and growth conditions. We need to ensure the consistency and quality of our products – and we have the facilities and tools to do so convincingly. This is a basic first step towards the final approval and we are confident to be well on our way.

An analysis will now take place, but you have already seen some promising signs in terms of sustainable cultivation. Could you elaborate on these?

– Without yet knowing the analysis results, we find it fair to assess, that the process in connection with the first production has been very close to optimal. In the temperature- and moisture-sensitive development facilities, cannabis genetics thrive perfectly, and it has only been necessary to use about one-sixth of the expected amount of fertilizer and nutrients. At the same time, water consumption has been significantly lower than anticipated. The high-tech set up in BIOTECH PHARM1 works as intended – and more sustainably.

You are now in the starting blocks of expanding the production capacity, which will be backed up by your recent directed issue of shares and loan capital. What does the expansion entail and what is the end game with the expansion?

– Our recent injection of capital significantly strengthens our financial position and enables us to accelerate the establishment of Phase 2 of BIOTECH PHARM1. This means that we are now embarking on significantly expanding our production capacity. We believe that the right time for further investments in production facilities is now, as there is a great demand for cannabis biomaterial, especially in the German market, and especially THC-potent raw materials, also called Tetrahydrocannabinol, which is one of the active substances among other is extracted from cannabis

You plan to increase the production capacity by a factor of 10x. When do you expect to reach this new level of production and what markets are of highest interest to serve?

– The positive development in DanCann Pharma’s activities, both financially and operationally, means that we can start production of the biomaterial to a significantly greater extent than previously expected. We expect to start operations in our expanded production facility in Q1 next year – approved by mid-2022 – with our primary market-focus for this product on the German market as mentioned above.

Being able to produce uniform products is key. When do you hope to have an analysis ready of the first batch, which hopefully shows this uniformity?

– The whole purpose of the implementation of the many training batches is ultimately to ensure uniformity and consistency in the products, so that we can maximise our output for raw material sales. After trimming and a week’s stay in the drying room, the biomaterial must be sent away for analysis, after which another week passes before the results are available. The first batch is of course something special. A milestone that is definitely worth marking.

The content of BioStock’s news and analyses is independent but the work of BioStock is to a certain degree financed by life science companies. The above article concerns a company from which BioStock has received financing.

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