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Ananda Developments #ANA – New appointments at DJT Plants Limited
Ananda is pleased to announce additions to the team within its operating subsidiary, DJT Plants. Since planting of the first seeds in February, operations at site have become more complex and, under the guidance of Stuart Piccaver, the team has been expanded to include:
- Mark Spurdens MBA, BSc, CMgr, FIFST – COO; Mark was previously Operations Director of two large UK horticultural businesses supplying the main supermarket chains. He brings this experience to build DJT Plant’s medical cannabis business. He has a strong track record in building cohesive and effective teams and in developing high care production facilities within complex supply chains.
- Steve Murray BSc, BASIS – Head of Cultivation; Steve was previously managing 1.4Ha of medical cannabis growing in the UK for a cultivator under contract to GW Pharmaceuticals. He has set up and run large scale farming and intensive pharmaceutical grade production systems. His practical experience will be invaluable as DJT Plants moves towards commercial growing, subject to appropriate Home Office licencing.
- Dr. Nigel Gale – Head of Plant Science; Nigel has extensive experience in Good Agricultural and Collection Practice (GACP) and EU-GMP with a proven track record in developing genetics and successfully cultivating for EU markets, including developing top-selling genetic cultivars for both the medical and recreational cannabis markets in Canada. Nigel has moved to the UK from Canada, where he was Head/Director of Cultivation for several Canadian Licensed Producers. During his time in Canada, Nigel regularly managed the cultivation of up to 100,000 cannabis plants. Nigel is also an Associate Editor of Frontiers in Soil Sciences and the International Journal of Plant Biology.
Mark, Steve and Nigel have already commenced work on site and have begun to fine tune both the nutrition and watering regimes for the plants. Each strain has its own needs, and these are now being identified and accounted for. The team is assessing the plants for genetic traits, which can be done visually by an experienced eye by analysing the size and shape of the leaves on each plant.
Preparations are now being made for the movement of plants from the research facility to the multi-chapelles, the structures where DJT Plants will be cultivating in trial commercial conditions. The team is also engaging with DJT Plants’ consultants on the commercial storage and manufacturing facility plans.
Melissa Sturgess, Chief Executive Officer of Ananda commented; “A warm welcome from all of us at Ananda and DJT to Mark, Steve and Nigel. Building a best-in-class multidisciplinary team will be the foundation of our commercial success and we particularly look forward to being able to draw on their vast combined experience where it will matter; excellence in plant science, excellence in practical execution and excellence in managing a complex business with, as I like to say, lots of moving parts. A good strategy is of little use without first class practical execution.”
Corporate
There remains one outstanding item to complete the Circular to shareholders for the purchase of the 50% of DJT Plants not already owned by Ananda. Once final sign off is obtained, the Circular will be posted to shareholders and the General Meeting called.
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The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.
| ANANDA DEVELOPMENTS PLC Chief Executive Officer Melissa Sturgess Investor Relations |
+44 (0)7463 686 497 ir@anandadevelopments.com |
| PETERHOUSE CAPITAL LIMITED Corporate Finance Mark Anwyl Corporate Broking |
+44 (0)20 7469 0930 |
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
About Ananda Developments
Ananda is an AQSE-listed medical cannabis company creating UK-based operations to grow and provide carbon zero, consistent, medical cannabis for the UK and international markets.
The UK medical cannabis market is predicted to be worth £450m by 2025 and the European market is predicted to be worth USD4.2bn by 2027.
Alan Green talks to Melissa Sturgess, CEO of Ananda Developments #ANA
Alan Green talks to Melissa Sturgess, CEO of Ananda Developments #ANA, a company and platform that allows cannabis investors to gain exposure to the sector. Melissa outlines the company mission and activities, before bring investors up to date on the most recent development with the UK cannabis research facility build. We then look at the company’s investments into ICAN and Hapac, before Melissa provides some key milestones for investors to look out for in the coming months.
Ananda Developments #ANA – Shareholder Update
Ananda’s ambition is to become a significant participant in the medicinal cannabis sector as a UK-based grower of consistent, high quality medicinal cannabis for domestic and international markets. In 2025, the UK medicinal cannabis market is expected to be worth £450m and the European market is expected to be worth £2.7bn.
Highlights
- Construction of purpose-built research facility to commence in July 2021
- Strains of medicinal cannabis for research have been selected
- Liberty Herbal Technologies has received a US Patent for its vaping device
Construction of Research Facility
Following receipt of a Licence from the Home Office to grow >0.2% THC cannabis in the UK for research purposes (the “Licence”) by the Company’s 50% owned subsidiary DJT Plants Limited (“DJT Plants”), the Directors of Ananda report that the research facility construction project will commence in July 2021. It is being overseen by the Farms Director of JEPCO Limited (“JEPCO”) who has considerable experience in the construction of facilities of this nature. JEPCO owns 51% of Anglia Salads which is the other 50% shareholder of DJT Plants.
The Home Office approved research site currently comprises a large storage area with a concrete base and a large shed which was previously used for crop storage. Modular work rooms will be installed inside the shed to provide laboratory space, indoor breeding spaces and clean and secure areas for handling the harvested flower. Two multi-chapelle units (greenhouses) will be constructed in a field adjacent to the modular facilities to accommodate the field trials. The whole research facility will be fenced, secured and monitored. Field trials are a critical precursor to commercial growing in order to identify the strains with the best agronomic traits and to fine tune growing techniques.
The directors of Ananda gave approval for the £300,000 raised in March 2021 to be applied to the construction of the research facility.
Choice of medicinal cannabis strains for research trials
13 strains have been chosen for DJT Plants’ research trials. 5 seeds of each strain will be planted to create the total of 65 potential strains, as high variability is expected within each strain. The chosen strains exhibit a range of profiles, based on current prescribing and researched information, including:
- low THC / high CBD content
- high THC / low CBD content
- balanced THC / CBD content
From the 65 genetically stable strains, a selection will be made to match the best resulting strains with medical conditions. This information will add to the body of knowledge about efficacious medicinal cannabis grown in UK conditions and will, subject to further Home Office licensing, provide stable strains of medicinal cannabis for commercial growing.
Subject to further Home Office licensing, DJT Plants intends to move to commercial growing.
Liberty Herbal Technologies (“LHT”) Patent granted
LHT has been awarded a US Patent for its hapac® inhalation system. This system enables measured doses of medicinal cannabis to be vaped. More information about hapac can be found at www.hapac.tech. The company’s rollout in Italy was stalled due to COVID and other opportunities for re-launch are being pursued.
LHT’s system has a potential future application in medicinal cannabis because it will ultimately allow:
- medicinal cannabis to be consumed as a measured dose
- a ‘heat not burn’ mechanism for receiving the benefits of medicinal cannabis
- a method of receiving the benefits of medicinal cannabis without smoking or the inconvenience of oils.
Background
On 17 May 2021, Ananda’s 50% owned subsidiary, DJT Plants, received a licence from the Home Office to grow >0.2% THC cannabis in the UK for research purposes. The licence conditions enable a research plan to stabilise 65 strains of cannabis and conduct research field trials.
DJT Plants is a wholly owned subsidiary of DJT Group Limited (“DJT Group”), which is owned 50/50 by Ananda’s wholly owned subsidiary, Tiamat Agriculture Limited, and Anglia Salads Limited (“Anglia Salads”).
On 8 June 2021, the Company announced it had signed non-binding Heads of Terms to acquire the 50% of DJT Group it does not own from Anglia Salads. A circular containing further information and convening a General Meeting to approve this acquisition will be sent to Ananda shareholders as soon as possible.
The Directors will provide shareholders with further updates as plans progress.
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The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.
| ANANDA DEVELOPMENTS PLC Chief Executive Officer Melissa Sturgess Investor Relations |
+44 (0)7463 686 497 ir@anandadevelopments.com |
| PETERHOUSE CAPITAL LIMITED Corporate Finance Mark Anwyl Allie Feuerlein Corporate Broking |
+44 (0)20 7469 0930 |
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Ananda Developments #ANA – Grant of Home Office Licence
The Directors of Ananda announce the following progress regarding Ananda’s vision to become a significant participant in the emerging medicinal cannabis sector:
HIGHLIGHTS
- DJT Plants Limited (“DJT Plants”) has been granted a licence to grow >0.2% THC cannabis for research activities by the UK Government Home Office (the “Licence”).
- The build out of DJT Plants’ research facility to breed and stabilise 65 strains of cannabis will commence immediately, utilising the funds raised by the Company in March 2021.
- DJT Plants is a wholly owned subsidiary of DJT Group Limited (“DJT Group”), which is owned as to 50% by Ananda’s wholly owned subsidiary, Tiamat Agriculture Limited, and as to 50% by Anglia Salads Limited (“Anglia Salads”).
Background
On 14 October 2019, DJT Plants submitted its application for a licence to grow >0.2% THC cannabis for research purposes pursuant to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Following submission of the application, DJT Plants and its advisers have been in a dialogue with the Home Office, local police and the MHRA, amongst others. The regulations around COVID-19 caused a year’s delay in Home Office representatives being able to visit the proposed site of the research activities. When regulations allowed, representatives of the Home Office made a visit to proposed locations on 17 March 2021. DJT Plants received its Licence on 17 May 2021.
Anglia Salads and DJT Plants both held UK Home Office licences to grow >0.2% THC cannabis between 2014 and 2017. They successfully grew up to five hectares of cannabis for GW Pharmaceuticals, in multi-chappelle structures in natural season without any artificial heat or light.
The October 2019 licence application included DJT Plants’ phased strategy to become a significant participant in the emerging medicinal cannabis sector. Phase One is the research phase for which the Licence has been granted. Phase Two, which will be subject to further UK Home Office licensing, is to build out commercial growing and extraction facilities, for some 40 hectares, at the same location.
The Licence received on 17 May 2021 is to develop a broad range of cannabis genotypes through a genetic stabilisation and field trials programme, with the goal of growing these genotypes in the UK.
DJT Plants will produce a line of 65 stable genotypes through back crossing six generations from a varied portfolio of 13 seeds that exhibit a range of THC/CBD and other cannabinoid, terpene and flavonoid profiles. Those genotypes with metabolic profiles relevant to various health indications which have shown to be receptive to treatment with medical cannabis and for which NICE (the National Institute for Clinical Excellence) has called for further research, will also be filtered for agronomical traits such as yield and resistance to pathogens, moulds etc. This will give DJT Plants a number of stable genotypes with a range of metabolic profiles, containing high and low levels of THC and CBD, together with a varied range of other cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids.
With a focus on neuropathic pain, epilepsy, Parkinson’s Disease and systemic sclerosis and with reference to the scientific literature, DJT Plants will analyse the metabolic profiles of the stable genotypes (including reference to their non-stable origin – via plants grown from first generation hybrid) including analysis of minor cannabinoids, flavonoids and terpenes. This analysis will be carried out in Israel under procedures and techniques developed by Professor Dedi Meiri of the Technion Israel Institute of Technology. Professor Meiri has established an approach for comprehensive metabolic profiling of phytochemicals in cannabis.
The understanding gained from the analysis and studies as described above, together with insight gained from the scientific literature, will assist in the selection of genotypes that could be grown in Phase 2, subject to further licensing from the Home Office, then manufactured under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) with a view to becoming available for prescription by doctors on the General Medical Council list of Specialists.
As part of DJT Plants’ research approach, it will also look to establish extraction, distillation and isolation facilities to manufacture “full spectrum” cannabis products and less than full spectrum products according to the specific combinations of cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids identified as being efficacious for particular indications.
Following the research phase, and conditional on UK Home Office licensing, the Directors believe a UK source of high quality consistent medicinal cannabis, such as DJT Plants intends to grow and produce, will be well received, given the growing market for medicinal cannabis and the concerns around consistency and quality expressed by prescribing doctors and patients.
Advantages of growing medicinal cannabis in the UK
Anglia Salads and DJT Plants successfully cultivated medicinal cannabis for GW Pharmaceuticals from 2014 to 2017 in UK natural light and heat conditions. Unlike the high capital and operating cost facilities built in some other jurisdictions, DJT Plants will grow cannabis in multi-chappelle structures with the required light, humidity and heat metrics via 100% natural means. By doing this for GW Pharmaceuticals, DJT Plants achieved one natural growth cycle per annum, with consistent quality and a yield of 700g/m2. DJT Plants’ direct experience growing medical cannabis is that one natural cycle per year achieves better economics and is more environmentally friendly and sustainable than ‘pushing’ the plants to achieve two to three crops per year with the associated high costs.
Build Out of Research Facility
On 15 February 2021, Ananda announced that it had raised £300,000 for the build out of its research facility at the Licence location. As reported to shareholders at the time, these funds were set aside for the build out. DJT Plants will therefore immediately commence the build out and commissioning of the research facility.
Issue of Contingent Consideration Shares
Pursuant to the agreement whereby Ananda acquired Tiamat Agriculture Limited, announced on 24 May 2019 and approved by Ananda’s shareholders on 10 June 2019, Melissa Sturgess and Charles Morgan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, are entitled to be issued 100 million ordinary shares of 0.2p each in Ananda when the Licence is granted. These shares will be issued as soon as practicable, and a further announcement will be made at that time.
Ananda CEO Melissa Sturgess said: “Ananda is extremely excited to achieve this important milestone which allows us to grow and stabilise 65 strains of cannabis and conduct field trials. We also maintain our focus on the future when we hope to legally produce premium UK grown medicinal cannabis for patients who need it.”
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The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.
| ANANDA DEVELOPMENTS PLC Chief Executive Officer Melissa SturgessInvestor Relations Jeremy Sturgess-Smith |
+44 (0)7463 686 497 ir@anandadevelopments.com |
| PETERHOUSE CAPITAL LIMITED Corporate Finance Mark Anwyl Allie FeuerleinCorporate Broking Lucy Williams Duncan Vasey |
+44 (0)20 7469 0930 |
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.