In the future, cannabis will be grown just outside Dresden - on behalf of the state.
Trial operations are currently underway and the first plants are being grown.
The first harvest should be brought in at the beginning of 2022.
Ebersbach - The pharmaceutical company Demecan has started breeding cannabis plants for medical purposes in Ebersbach near Dresden.
“The first plants are here,” said co-founder and managing director Constantin von der Groeben of the German Press Agency.
The mother plants would now be grown from this, with which the commercial cultivation will then start in the next few weeks.
It will be selected until two varieties have been found that are best suited for the cultivation of medicinal cannabis, says von der Groeben.
“It's about constant growth, yield and cannabinoid content.” The two types of plants are then to be continuously bred using cuttings.
Agreements are currently in progress with the drug authority and the Federal Opium Agency.
The conversion of the former slaughterhouse into an indoor production facility with office space and a laboratory was approved by the authorities last week.
Now operations are ramped up and safety technology and systems are tested.
The air filters are running in trial operation.
"They ensure overpressure in the rooms so that no particles are carried into the rooms," said von der Groeben.
The first flowers for medicinal cannabis are to be harvested and delivered at the beginning of 2022.
The plan is 990 kilograms per year, which will go to the cannabis agency set up by the federal government.
The company, founded in 2017, is one of three companies that the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices has allowed to grow cannabis in Germany.
According to the Federal Institute, the total permitted cultivation amount is 10,400 kilograms of medicinal cannabis - initially spread over four years.
In addition to Demecan, Aphria RX from Neumünster and the Aurora company are also allowed to grow medical cannabis.
Since 2017, patients have been able to have their doctor prescribe cannabis regularly for medical purposes, for example for pain relief in the seriously ill.
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The cannabis plants grow in Ebersbach in the district of Meißen in four specially developed and secured halls, each equipped for 1000 plants.
According to von der Groeben, the rooms should now go into operation with a time delay, so that harvesting can continue even in the event of possible failures.
Initially around 80 employees will work in Ebersbach - from growing young plants to propagation to flowering and further processing, a lot is manual work.
dpa
