Company Profile: Cannabis Medical Group
Cultivation: 13ha in Funza Licenses Obtained: Cultivation, fabrication, export, national use and seeds Pending approval: Seed characterization process HQ: Funza, Cundinamarca
Successful entrepreneurs are often the ones with an unshakeable belief in their product. CEO Monica Sanchez and Camilo Toledo, the Colombian partners behind local firm Cannabis Medical Group (CMG) have both had first- hand experience of the benefits of medicinal marijuana- Monica suffered from endometriosis, a uterine condition, while Camilo had psoriasis, a skin condition. Both of them found cannabis provided them with relief where traditional medicine had failed. With third partner Ivan Camilo providing the land package in Funza, just two km. away from the site of Bogota’s new airport project, the company was born in January 2017.
NEW TREATMENTS: One thing that stands out about the company is its strategy to develop products that go beyond the most popular epilepsy and Parkinson’s treatments, towards a wide range of conditions. “We fully believe in the power of cannabis products to treat uterine cancer and diseases that have been abandoned by traditional medicine, such as depression, anorexia, bulimia and drug addiction,” says Sanchez. This commitment was one of the factors that led Kaneh Bosm Biotechnology (KBB) to invest in CMG this year. The Canadian firm, which owns over 35,000 pharmacies and has had presence in the cannabis space for 20 years, made an initial $2m investment which could expand to $20-30m in the coming years KBB will provide the formulas for the products, take charge of the construction of the processing plant and set up pharmacies in Colombian cities. “From the beginning we knew that, to become a big company, we required foreign investment,” says Sánchez, “but our intention was never to sell-put. We believe in cannabis and we want Colombians to benefit from the plant.”
THE PLAN: Having received licenses for cultivation, seeds, fabrication and exports in 2017, CBG is embarking on a staggered production growth at its 13 hectare cultivation plot. In mid 2018 the firm was cultivating an area of under 5,000 sq. meters to meet the seed characterization requirements. The next stage will involve commercial cultivation of a 3 hectare area with the construction of the laboratories on the same site. For the second phase of investment the firm plans to expand its cultivation to 50- 60 hectares and grow the production plant’s capacity. Talks with logistics companies and customs for the import of equipment are already underway and the firm is in dialogue with local doctors working in marijuana treatments to prepare their supporting studies to INVIMA when necessary. “Cannabis represents a huge new market,” says Sanchez, “the country needs firms to develop new made-in-Colombia medicinal products to take advantage of this opportunity.