New North Macedonian facility to export medical cannabis extracts to global markets

A new 17,800 m2 indoor cannabis cultivation and manufacturing facility has opened in Skopje, North Macedonia.

This is the PHCANN International’s second cannabis facility in North Macedonia.

The facility, which has an annual flower production capacity of up to 15,500kg, will manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients in herbal form and export finished medical cannabis products, including dried flower (subject to the passing of a cannabis flower export law) and oils to global markets that allow legal medical cannabis.

PHCANN has also integrated a fully equipped cannabinoid research and testing laboratory into the facility to research the microbiology and stability data of cannabinoids in all forms, according to German standards. The lab is built to ensure that all products are made to the highest standards – from planting to packaging to storage – for patients in need around the world.

“The opening of our second cannabis facility in North Macedonia is a significant opportunity for PHCANN to provide pharmaceutical-grade cannabis products worldwide,” said Zlatko Keskovski, PHCANN’s CEO. “Over the next five years, we expect Europe to become the largest medical cannabis market in the world. As such, this facility will enable the Company to meet the demand from the U.K., Germany, Poland and other countries that are starting to adopt pharmaceutical cannabis in the EU, as well as other international markets such as Australia and Brazil.

“PHCANN’s philosophy has always been to keep the patient at the heart of what we do, and we have implemented advanced technologies to ensure that only the highest-quality pharmaceutical-grade products are produced at our facility.”

In recent years, growing evidence of cannabis’ therapeutic value in treating a variety of diseases and conditions – from cancer treatment to pain management to sleep disorders – has led to a shift in public perception around medical cannabis and a wave of medical cannabis legalization across Europe.

However, despite medical cannabis’ growing demand, there are a limited number of Europe-based facilities producing legal, high-quality, cannabinoid-based products. Launching this facility will allow the Company to scale its production and expand its footprint into new markets in 2021.

“PHCANN’s new facility provides a highly competitive advantage with its pharmaceutical products, combined with scalable, low-cost production,” added Yuval Soiref, PHCANN’s Founder and Director. “With PHCANN leading the way, North Macedonia is now on the map for producing pharmaceutical-grade medical cannabis, and our vision is to become one of the largest providers of medicinal cannabis to the EU and other global markets. Our next steps are the validation, qualification and inspection for EU GMP certification for the new facility. We aim to launch products from this facility to the market in 2021.”