Terra Life Sciences Inc., which operates Olds SoftGels here in town, has closed a $46-million deal to expand the company’s medical cannabis capabilities.
Those plans call for further construction of more cultivation facilities at Olds SoftGels (OSG) and investments into clinical trials, enhancing research capabilities.
"This financing will help translate our company's success as a leading global manufacturer of pharma-grade softgels into a prominent position in the medical cannabis industry; a combination we believe will provide our company and shareholders with a long term sustainable competitive advantage," Anil Jain, president and chief executive officer of Terra Life Sciences, said in a press release.
This all follows previous developments, such as Terra Life receiving a controlled drugs and substance (CDS) licence from Health Canada in December 2017 and OSG receiving council approval for land re-designation from light industrial to District Control 7 in May 2017.
Terra Life also isn’t the only medical marijuana-based company to receive District Control 7 designation in Olds. So has the Airdrie-based company Sundial Growers Ltd.
The differences between the two companies are their goals and the type of marijuana they each produce.
Sundial is growing marijuana for medicinal use in a smokable form but is also aggressively moving towards recreational markets as cannabis becomes legalized.
OSG on the other hand has stated that it will not produce any smokable forms of marijuana.
The intention of OSG is to extract the cannabinoid (CBD) oils in a proper dose to make them a traditional pharmaceutical product.
Researchers have found that CBD has pain relieving, anti-inflammatory and anti-anxiety properties, but comes without the psychoactive effect that comes via THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). In other words, it doesn't get consumers "high."
Research has shown that CBD is a promising option for difficult-to-treat conditions such as Crohn's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and multiple sclerosis (MS).
In a previous Albertan story, OSG general manager Jerry Bechtold stressed that OSG will not produce recreational cannabis products.
“OSG is strictly for the medical community, and will never produce a product for the recreational market,” he said.
