Nuuvera has bought the first private laboratory in Malta. This laboratory will offer services related to the medical cannabis and pharmaceutical industry, but it will not be growing the plant in Malta. 

“We intend to use this facility to extract and produce intermediary products or finished products, and the opportunity that we see is mainly an importation and exportation opportunity. We do not plan at this stage to cultivate or grow cannabis for medical purposes in Malta,” said Antonio Costanza, the head of International Development of Nuuvera, said on the TVM Show Dissett.

This comes after weeks of international speculation and a letter of intent from the company to the Maltese government. 

Nuuvera has now signed an agreement with the Maltese government that allows the company to begin work in the purchased laboratory as soon as the medical cannabis bill is approved. 

The laboratory they are buying was previously owned by ASG Pharma, one of the few certified laboratories in Malta.

The buying and opening of the laboratory in Malta is part of a successful strategy of obtaining rare licenses to produce their medicine around the world. Nuuvera is the only company that owns a facility authorised to be involved in the international medicinal cannabis industry. 

Mr Costanza said that the company will continue to build on their strong foundation in Canada with the aim of providing consumers with the best medicinal products that come from cannabis, at competitive prices. 

The Maltese laboratory will be the centre of production and distribution for Maltese medicinal cannabis products in the European market.

Lorne Abony, the Chief Executive of Nuuvera, said that it was clear that Malta specifically as well as the European Union had made consumer protections a priority.

He said this was the kind of policy that made Malta a centre of excellence for the production and distribution of pharmaceuticals that come from cannabis.

What do you think of the first laboratory for medicinal cannabis being confirmed?

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Johnathan Cilia

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]