NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2018 (GLOBE
NEWSWIRE) -- Columbia Care LLC, a medical cannabis company in the
United States (U.S.), announced today that it received notification that its
application for licensure in Malta has been approved by Malta Enterprise, the
country’s economic development agency. Upon completion of the final regulatory
steps, Columbia Care will be able to import, export, cultivate, process and
distribute medical cannabis. With this Maltese license, Columbia Care is the
first U.S. cannabis company authorized to operate in the European Union (EU)
and will be able to access markets globally where federal medical cannabis
programs exist.
“We built Columbia Care one market at a time by staying true to
our corporate mission and values, by collecting more data than any other
organization and by using that data to drive innovation and efficiencies.
Further, we have built an organization that is loyal and supportive to its
stakeholders and serves its patients with respect and passion. In doing so, we
have become the global leader from our base in the U.S., raising the bar for
expectations, performance and industry standards. With a desire to realize our
mission regardless of geography, we look forward to disrupting the status quo
outside the U.S. and bringing our expertise to the rest of the world,” said
Nicholas Vita, chief executive officer of Columbia Care.
Mr. Vita continued, “This announcement is our first response to
inquiries from patients, medical leaders, policy makers and institutions
throughout Europe, South America and Oceania to provide access to our patented
portfolio of pharmaceutical-quality, dose metered cannabinoid-based medicines.
We are pleased that our operation in Malta will launch our EU expansion. This
island nation has always been a key strategic access point for Europe. The
leadership and expertise of our executive chairman and co-founder, Michael
Abbott, and our partners in Malta, Solea Limited, were instrumental in
realizing this success.”
Consistent with its existing operations in the U.S., Columbia Care
expects to launch with its portfolio of pharmaceutical-quality, dose metered
cannabinoid-based medicines throughout Europe and the rest of the world.
Operations in Malta are expected to be best in class, including a GMP-certified
and ISO-certified research and manufacturing facility where it will produce the
full suite of its proprietary pharmaceutical-quality medical cannabis products,
including ClaraCeed™, TheraCeed™ and EleCeed™, in tablet, vaporization oil,
tincture, suppository and topical formulations. Columbia Care will also grow a
targeted selection of medical grade flower strains derived from its proprietary
genetic bank containing over 250 phenotypes.
