Puro, a New Zealand company that exports organic cannabis for medical purposes claims to have signed the biggest deal ever.
Signed at the New Zealand High Commission in London, the £7 million deal is with UK-based IPS Pharma, an arrangement made possible by 2024 reforms to New Zealand’s medicinal cannabis regulations.
This deal is the largest ever organic cannabis purchase in history, and it’s also the first time many UK patients will have tried live-dried cannabis. said Puro CEO Sank Macfarlane. Our seven-stage live drying method keeps the cannabis fresh, potent and as it was the day of harvest. It locks in maximum therapeutic values that are lost over time with conventional drying.
Puro’s method involves gently removing the moisture in order to maintain cannabinoids and terpenes, as well as other constituents.
Ian McFarlane commented about the deal as IPS Pharma’s Director Strategic Partnerships:
Puro’s organically-grown cannabis strains are unique and will be beneficial to UK and European patients. Puro’s products are among the best on the market because of their complex aromatic and terpene compounds.
IPS Pharma is based in Surrey and operates in the following three key areas: unlicensed medicine (unlicensed imports and specials), clinical trials, and special Obtains. The company was established in 2001.
Puro operates an organic cannabis farming and manufacturing facility in Kekerengu, on New Zealand’s South Island. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean and protected by mountainous terrain, Puro says the site offers a ‘perfect’ microclimate for cannabis cultivation. The site also houses New Zealand’s biggest drying, packaging and processing facility.
At Waihopai, the firm has an indoor research, breeding and cultivar validation facility opened in 2020 that Puro says is also the largest of its kind in New Zealand.
Puro, founded in 2018, has been receiving significant support from NZ’s government. This includes a grant of $13 million by the Ministry of Primary Industries for the fast track of the organic medicinal cannabis sector. In 2021, the company finished its first commercially significant harvest. Puro will export the country’s first cannabis flowers in July 2022.
In other recent cannabis news out of New Zealand, last month it was announced three of New Zealand’s major medical cannabis firms — Helius Therapeutics, Green Leaf Group and Elysian Group — intend to merge to form a new entity named Helius Health.