Blueberries Medical Corp. (CSE: BBM) (OTC: BBRRF) (FRA: 1OA) (the
“
Company” or "
Blueberries"), a
Latin American licensed producer of medicinal cannabis and
cannabis-derived products, is pleased to provide the following
update on the Company’s recent significant operational
achievements:
Commissioning of First Extraction
Line
- Blueberries has commissioned the
first extraction line at its 2,800 m2 (30,138 ft2) state-of-the-art
extraction facility, strategically located in Cundinamarca, the
region with the highest concentration of licensed cannabis
producers. The first extraction line is fully operational and
located in a modern and secure industrial park 30 minutes outside
of Bogota.
- The newly commissioned equipment
will provide sufficient capacity for the Company to process biomass
from Blueberries’ vertically integrated cultivation operations as
well as its contract growers and other licensed producers.
- The facility uses supercritical CO2
extraction technology to produce the highest quality cannabis oil
and has been designed with the flexibility to also employ ethanol
extraction technologies to match market demand.
- The initial capacity of the
facility is 80,000kg/year of dried flower with the ability to
accommodate significant expansion of up to five additional
extraction lines. The Blueberries team is heavily focused on
establishing a best-in-class extraction operation with the goal of
becoming a leading extraction center in Latin America and an
international supplier of medicinal-grade cannabis oil extracts,
active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and related products.
- The Company has approximately 450kg
of dry flower produced at its Guatavita facility readily available
to perform testing and optimization of the extraction, with
significant cultivation underway as previously announced.
- The installed Vitalis extraction
line is the first equipment of its kind in Colombia having
stainless-steel compressor and extraction vessels, built to
stringent EU-GMP (European Union - Good Manufacturing Practices)
standards. The Company’s facility is designed to comply with GMP
standards to ensure standardization and consistency of production.
The Company is currently implementing full GMP standards at its
extraction facility and expects to commence the certification
process shortly which would permit additional export potential to
international markets.
“We are extremely pleased to announce the
commissioning of the first extraction line at our extraction
facility, a major milestone for Blueberries. Our team is executing
exceptionally well and is focused on our strategic and operational
priorities. We are confident in our ability to continue meeting
operational and commercial goals for 2020 as we accelerate towards
commercial sales using our scalable and low-cost approach to
address the local and international demand for cannabis oil. We are
also looking forward to commencing work with our contract and
associate growers who share our vision for producing the highest
quality cannabis. Our goal is to support our partners, who are
licensed producers by providing our proprietary genetics,
propagation services and extraction capabilities,” stated Camilo
Villalba, Chief Executive Officer.
Supply Agreements with Contract
Growers
- During the past month, Blueberries has entered into multiple
agreements with local contract and associate growers to secure over
40,000kg/year of dried cannabis supply which is over half of the
extraction facility’s current capacity. In addition to the
Company's own flower production, these agreements will scale
production capacity to meet expected sales growth and maximize the
use of the Company’s extraction facility. The contracts provide
dried cannabis supply to Blueberries at no up-front cost to produce
cannabis oil which is shared between Blueberries and the contract
growers.
- Blueberries holds a variety of approved proprietary CBD strains
positioning the Company to commercialize and distribute CBD
genetics. These strains are currently being cultivated at the
Company’s Guatavita facility. The Company will propagate genetics
for contract and associate growers which will in turn supply high
quality biomass for the Company’s extraction center. This is a
scalable infrastructure with potential to generate increasing
revenues, profit and free cash flow.
The Company intends to begin commercial
production of CBD-dominant oils and products in the first half of
2020. This production will be used primarily to produce medicine
and sold to patients individually as specially prepared
formulations.
Further Strengthens Operations
Team
Effective January 20, 2020, Mr. Carlos Maldonado
has been appointed as the Company's Vice President of Operations.
Mr. Maldonado brings over two decades of operational leadership in
the pharmaceutical industry at Merck and GlaxoSmithKline, as
Logistics Director and Production Manager, respectively. This
appointment further strengthens the Company's strategic focus on
operational excellence and commitment to accelerate growth.
“I am very proud to join the Blueberries team as
we take this significant step towards the commercial phase. I look
forward to contributing to our shared objectives leveraging my
extensive experience and relationships in the pharmaceutical
industry,” stated Carlos Maldonado, Vice-President of
Operations.
To keep up to date with the Company’s recent
developments, please visit the media center on the Company’s
website.
About Blueberries Medical
Corp.Blueberries is a Latin American licensed producer of
naturally grown premium quality cannabis with its primary
operations ideally located in the Bogotá Savannah of central
Colombia and operations currently being established in Argentina.
The Company is led by a specialized team with proprietary expertise
in agriculture, genetics, extraction, medicine, pharmacology and
marketing, Blueberries is fully licensed for the cultivation,
production, domestic distribution, and international export of CBD
and THC-based medical cannabis in Colombia. Blueberries’
combination of leading scientific expertise, agricultural
advantages and distribution arrangements has positioned the Company
to become a leading international supplier of naturally grown,
processed, and standardized medicinal-grade cannabis oil extracts
and related products.
Additional information about the Company is
available at www.blueberriesmed.com. For more information, please
contact:
Camilo Villalba, Chief Executive Officer
cvillalba@blueberriesmed.comTel: +57 (313) 483 0131
Ian Atacan, Chief Financial
Officeriatacan@blueberriesmed.comTel: +1 (416) 562 3220
Jessika Angarita, Pacta Relations
angarita@pactarelations.comTel: +1 (305) 877 4710
Cautionary Note Regarding
Forward-Looking InformationThis news release contains
"forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements"
(collectively, "forward looking statements") within the meaning of
the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements,
other than statements historical fact, are forward-looking
statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections
as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves
discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs,
plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or
performance (often but not always using phrases such as “expects”,
or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “anticipates” or “does not
anticipate”, “plans”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “forecasts”,
“estimates”, “believes” or “intends” or variations of such words
and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results
“may” or “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken to occur or
be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be
forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward looking
statements relate, among other things, to: commencement of
commercial production of CBD-dominant oils and products in the
first half of 2020, successful implementation of full GMP standards
at its extraction facility to allow for additional export potential
to international markets, achieving additional milestones in 2020
as contemplated, or at all, ability to expand distribution
networks, ability to expand and upgrade the Company’s cultivation
facilities in Colombia, internal expectations, expectations
regarding the ability of the Company to access new Latin American
and international markets, the ability to attract and retain new
customers, and future expansion plans including development of the
cultivation, production, industrialization and marketing of
cannabis for commercial and scientific purposes.
These forward-looking statements are based on
reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company
at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may
differ materially as forward-looking statements involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the
actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to
materially differ from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. Such factors, among other things, include: fluctuations
in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities
markets; expectations regarding the size of the Colombian and
international medical cannabis market and changing consumer habits;
the ability of the Company to successfully achieve its business
objectives; plans for expansion; political and social
uncertainties; inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover
risks and hazards; and the presence of laws and regulations that
may impose restrictions on cultivation, production, distribution
and sale of cannabis and cannabis related products in Colombia,
Argentina and elsewhere; and employee relations. Although the
forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based
upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the
time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure
shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such
forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that
cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.
Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking
statements and information contained in this news release. The
Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking
statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors,
should they change, except as required by law.
Additional information regarding the Company,
and other risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's
business are contained under the heading "Risk Factors" in the
Company's Listing Statement dated January 31, 2019 filed on its
issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
No stock exchange, securities commission or
other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the
information contained herein.
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/69ae1173-0489-4e40-b02d-7f34418e16ce
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c95a07f1-ae6c-4cb4-8e5a-64572e678c15
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