Althea (ASX: AGH) has been granted a Hemp Cultivation Licence by the state of Victoria. This licence allows companies to grow hemp for research, food and industrial purposes.
Alongside the licence, Althea has signed an agreement with Tissue Culture Australia to develop tissue culture protocols for cannabis plants.
From the announcement, it Althea intends to utilise the licence and agreement with Tissue Culture Australia to develop high quality strains of low-THC cannabis for the extraction of cannabidiol (CBD).
Currently in Australia, CBD is classed as a Schedule 4 poison – ie can only be administered as a medication with a prescription. Hemp cultivation licences do not allow for the extraction of CBD for therapeutic purposes.
Althea CEO, Joshua Fegan said, “We see using Low-THC cannabis strains as an early opportunity for our cultivation experts to increase their practical knowledge of tissue culture protocols for the cannabis plant.
The intellectual property we intend to develop presents great commercial opportunities for Althea in hemp food and Isolated-CBD markets also, where large scale outdoor growers are beginning to use tissue culture starter plants as the source to plant out their crops.”
