TSX: ACB | NYSE: ACB
- Cultivation Leadership Further Strengthened as Global
Facilities Achieve Significant Milestones
- Global Market Expansion Continues in Medical Cannabis and
Hemp Markets
- Network of Strategic Partners Continue to Demonstrate
Value on Strong Execution
EDMONTON, Oct. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Aurora Cannabis Inc.
(the "Company" or "Aurora") (NYSE | TSX: ACB), the
Canadian company defining the future of cannabis worldwide, today
provided a corporate update on its global operations, business
units, and portfolio of strategic investments. As a global leader
in cannabis revenues, cannabis production, research, innovation,
and international market development, the Company will provide
regular, quarterly updates to its stakeholders in an effort to
demonstrate continued transparency and disclosure. The Company also
launched today, Aurora Insider, an investor focused blog
which will provide regular updates and insight into the operations
at Aurora.
"Aurora takes its leadership position in the global cannabis
industry seriously, and is committed to being open and transparent
with all of our stakeholders," said Terry
Booth, CEO of Aurora. "The Aurora team is working to advance
several major strategic initiatives in Canada, the United
States and abroad aimed at further strengthening Aurora's
global position. We are laser-focused on delivering on our business
plan and prudently managing our investors' capital."
Update on Facilities in Construction:
As Aurora executes on its strategy of leading scalable,
purpose-built cultivation, it continues to prudently manage capital
allocation decisions driven by global forecasts for demand. Many of
the Company's significant construction projects are nearing
completion of major milestones with significant capital investments
concluded.
Aurora Sun and Aurora Nordic 2
Construction Update
Aurora continues to progress construction of its 1.6 million
square foot facility, Aurora Sun,
located in Medicine Hat, Alberta,
and its 1 million square foot facility, Nordic Sky, strategically
located in Odense, Denmark. The
new purpose-built, "Sky Class" facilities Aurora are constructing
will have full control over all anticipated environmental and
harvest conditions, resulting in the production of consistently
high yielding, high-quality cannabis at low-cost.
Mr. Booth added, "Aurora Sun in
Medicine Hat and Aurora Nordic in
Denmark represent the next
evolution of our "Sky Class" cultivation philosophy and
construction of these projects is proceeding well. Aurora Sun is nearing completion with the
majority of capital investment now behind us, while at Aurora
Nordic the primary outdoor construction, including the enclosure of
the facility, nears completion. Our design philosophy allows for
flexibility in licensing and commissioning in-line with the
long-term growth in global demand for medical cannabis."
Construction of Aurora Polaris
Nears Completion
Construction of Aurora Polaris, the Company's hub for
industrial-scale production of higher margin, value-added products,
such as edibles and vape products, is near completion. Building
occupancy is expected October 31,
2019 with staff starting to move in as early as the first
week of November. Warehouse racking is expected to arrive the first
week of October.
Click here to view drone footage of Aurora
Polaris
Whistler Pemberton Facility
Construction on Track
Construction of the Whistler Pemberton facility remains on track
for completion in calendar Q4 2019. To date, four rooms are fully
operational with an annual capacity of 1,200 kg of premium
certified organic cannabis. Eleven additional rooms are expected to
come on-line beginning in November 2019. Upon completion
Pemberton is expected to produce in excess of 4,500 kg per year of
certified premium organic cannabis. The Company's organic consumer
brand, Whistler Cannabis Co., intends to launch new cannabis
derivative products in the consumer market including organic
certified hash and resin upon legalization in December 2019.
The Pemberton facility will incorporate a public lounge to
educate visitors to the region about Whistler and its history as cultivation
pioneers of organic certified cannabis. Whistler, British Columbia attracts over 2.7
million visitors annually and consistently ranks as one of the top
global travel destinations.
Anandia to Open
State-of-the-Art Cannabis Testing Headquarters
On October 8, 2019, Anandia
Laboratories Inc ("Anandia"), Aurora's wholly-owned cannabis
testing subsidiary, will officially open its new headquarters in
Vancouver, British
Columbia. This new facility adds 12,600 square feet of
laboratory space and approximately 40 new employees, bringing the
total Anandia headcount to over 100. A further 13,000 square feet
of office space is scheduled to be added to the headquarters
by the end of 2019. This represents a 700% total increase of
Anandia's Canadian footprint in the last year, enabling Anandia to
scale up and service more Canadian licensed producers in support of
cannabis patients and consumers.
Currently, Anandia is implementing state-of-the-art technology
and automation to increase efficiency. The new facility is capable
of performing an industry leading number of different tests on
cannabis and cannabis products, including tests for 14 different
cannabinoids. The new headquarters also contain a unique plant
tissue culture facility that will offer genetics archiving and
backup services to support the plant genetics needs of licensed
producers to strengthen productivity of this new high-value crop
and the cannabis industry in general.
Canadian Cannabis Innovation
Center Nears Completion
Construction of Aurora's purpose-built cannabis innovation
center in Comox, British Columbia
is on track for completion in December
2019 and is on budget. The new facility includes a 22,500
square foot greenhouse and an accompanying 10,000 square foot
laboratory. The Comox facility
will focus on the development of valuable IP, new genetics and
specialized cultivation technology to further improve production in
Aurora's Sky Class facilities.
Update on Operational Facilities:
Clone-to-Sale Tour of Aurora
Sky
Production at Aurora Sky, the Company's flagship production
facility, continues to scale on track of the facility's annual
production target of more than 100,000 kg of cannabis per year.
Located near the Edmonton
International Airport, Aurora Sky is the Company's most
technologically advanced production facility in operation with 16
flower rooms and state-of-the-art automation to ensure precise
control of each environmental variable required for the consistent
production of high-quality and low-cost cannabis. Take a unique,
behind the scenes journey through the most technologically advanced
cannabis cultivation facility through an in-depth, clone-to-sale
tour of the facility:
Click here to take a clone-to-sale tour of
Aurora Sky
First Outdoor Harvest at Aurora
Valley
The first harvest at Aurora Valley, located in Westwold, British Columbia, began on
Wednesday October 2, 2019. Spanning
more than 200 acres, the first harvest includes approximately
55,000 cannabis plants across six unique plant cultivars: Banana
Split, Blue Dream, Cannatonic, Chocolope, Krypt Melon, and LA
Confidential. The cannabis will be shipped to Aurora Sky for
extraction and further testing. This first harvest is an
important milestone for the Company as it develops cultivation
techniques to further excel at growing cannabis in varying climate
conditions and examines approaches to environmentally responsible
cannabis agriculture. The cultivation research performed this year
is anticipated to help the Company develop new technology, genetics
and intellectual property in order to drive sustainable,
high-quality outdoor production.
Click here to view drone footage of Aurora
Valley
Aurora
Mountain Solar Panel Installation
Earlier this year Aurora entered into a long-term electricity
purchase contract to buy power from a 600-kW roof top solar project
installed at Aurora's first flagship location, Aurora Mountain located in Mountain View County,
Alberta. The solar installation consists of 1,768 solar
modules connected directly to Alberta's power grid which will seamlessly
supply the Mountain facility with green electricity. As the
industry leader in integrating technology into the design and
operation of its facilities, Aurora identified the alternative
energy pilot project as an ideal way to explore the use of solar at
one of its facilities. without any new investment cost. The
project is expected to reduce greenhouse gases and based on a
third-party price forecast, Aurora expects the solar project will
result in positive savings over the next 20 years.
Aurora Vie
All rooms at Aurora Vie, located in Pointe Claire, Quebec, are licensed by Health
Canada and the facility is currently operating at its licensed
capacity of 4,000 kg/ annum. An EU GMP audit has been completed of
the facility which resulted in no major observations, accordingly
Aurora anticipates the facility will receive certification
imminently.
Aurora Eau
The first harvest of approximately 6,000 outdoor grown cannabis
plants at Aurora Eau, located in Lachute,
Quebec, is currently underway. Upon completion, the nearly
600 kg of biomass will be sent to Aurora Sky for extraction and
further testing.
Aurora Ridge
All rooms at Aurora Ridge (formerly MedReleaf Markham), located
in Markham, Ontario, are licensed
by Health Canada and the facility is currently operating at its
name plate capacity of 7,000 kg/ annum.
Aurora River
All rooms at Aurora River (formerly MedReleaf Bradford), located
in Bradford, Ontario, are licensed
by Health Canada and the facility is currently operating at its
name plate capacity of 28,000 kg/ annum. An EU GMP audit has been
completed of the facility which resulted in no major observations,
accordingly Aurora anticipates the facility will receive
certification imminently. Obtaining this certificate will
substantially increase the Company's capacity to ship product to
the European market.
Aurora Prairie
The Company recently invested $1.5
million at Aurora Prairie, located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to advance the
facility's scientific infrastructure. In total, ten cultivation
spaces have been dedicated to research and development. Research at
Aurora Prairie is focused on identifying new plant genetics with
improved characteristics to optimize plant growth and breed
high-quality, custom cultivars.
Update on Global Subsidiary Operations:
Aurora's leadership position extends beyond cultivation and
beyond the Canadian market. The Company is now active in 25
countries around the world, and has been the driving force in the
development of the global medical cannabis industry and now the
global hemp industry. The vision for Aurora remains global and we
are making the investments today to ensure we have the cultivation,
genetics, production, packaging and distribution and sales and
marketing infrastructure in place to win on a global scale.
UFC Partnership to Advance CBD
Research & Product Development
Aurora and the Ultimate Fighting Championship ("UFC") are
conducting a joint research program focused on a number of health
indications and desired health and wellness outcomes that
are of importance not just for mixed martial arts ("MMA") athletes
but for any level of athlete across any sport. The study will focus
on the efficacy of hemp-derived cannabidiol
(CBD) therapies, as well as on identifying optimal dosage via
a variety of delivery mechanisms.
Currently, Aurora and the UFC are in the final stages
of preparing an athlete intake survey for
submission to an Independent Review Board, which will engage
UFC athletes at the Performance Institute in Las Vegas. Simultaneously, Aurora is
developing the formulations and clinical trial
protocols for the first pilot interventional study which
is focused on pain and inflammation. Upon completion of the
studies, Aurora intends to develop new products for the medical and
wellness markets under the new brand, ROAR Sports, which stands for
research on accelerated recovery.
Global Hemp Operations
Update
Aurora's wholly-owned European hemp subsidiary, Agropro, is
currently harvesting approximately 9,000 acres of hemp across
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The harvested material will be
processed at the Company's large-scale drying facility located in
Kaunas, Lithuania, which at
approximately 60 metres in length, can process up to 5 tonnes of
material an hour.
Aurora's Latin American wholly-owned subsidiary ICC Labs is
currently preparing for the upcoming hemp growing season, which is
scheduled to begin with initial planting in November 2019. Approximately 435 acres of land
are anticipated to be sowed, with the potential to yield ~100,000
kg of raw material upon harvest in April
2020. The hemp biomass will be processed at the Company's
GMP compliant extraction facility that is strategically located
approximately five minutes from the Canelones International Airport
and within Uruguay's "Science
Park" free trade zone.
U.K. and Poland Market
Development
Expanding on Aurora's first commercial export of cannabis oil
into the United Kingdom ("UK"),
the Company recently entered into agreements with two local
partners to accelerate delivery of additional medical cannabis to
the UK market. The partners will oversee the implementation of an
educational program for UK based healthcare professionals and
manage the distribution of medical cannabis within the country. It
is anticipated that the agreements will see a broad range of full
spectrum cannabis oils and dried flower introduced to the UK market
to satisfy growing patient needs.
Further to the Company's press release dated October 25, 2018, on August the 14th, 2019, the
Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, Medical Devices and
Biocides in Poland, released the
marketing authorization for 4 of Aurora's products. This
authorization enables Aurora to expand its product offering in
Poland with the following
varieties:
- Cannabis Flos Aurora Deutschland GmbH (THC ≤1%, CBD 12%)
- Cannabis Flos Aurora Deutschland GmbH (THC 8%, CBD 8%)
- Cannabis Flos Aurora Deutschland GmbH (THC 20%, CBD ≤1%)
- Cannabis Flos Aurora Deutschland GmbH (THC 22%, CBD ≤1%)
The registration of these new product formats significantly
expands Polish patient access to high-quality, medical cannabis and
provides physicians with the tools to optimally treat individual
patients with a variety of different indications. Aurora
anticipates that shipments of the expanded product portfolio to
Poland to commence in the fourth
quarter of calendar 2019, commensurate with medical patient demand
as supply enters the market.
Australian Medical Market
Developments
With a population of more than 24 million, Australia's medical cannabis system has begun
to expand rapidly in a similar manner to the Canadian system,
making this an important market with significant growth potential.
Recent changes to the Special Access Scheme ("SAS") in Australia have made it easier for prescribers
to process medical cannabis applications and simultaneously obtain
Federal and state / territory approvals which are starting to
remove barriers for patients to access treatment. To date there
have been a total of 14,420 SAS-B applications approved, with
13,217, or 92%, occurring within the last 12 months and 2,893, or
20%, in August 2019 alone.
Aurora has established a presence in Australia through its strategic investments in
Cann Group Limited ("Cann") (ASX: CAN) and MedReleaf Australia.
Cann, the first company licensed to research cannabis and cultivate
the plant for medical purposes in the country, operates two
cultivation facilities and is constructing a third, which is
expected to be completed by the end of 2020.
BC Northern Lights
On September 12, 2019, Aurora's
wholly-owned subsidiary, BC Northern Lights, launched its latest
at-home hydroponic grow box, RoomMate Pro. The highly automated
grow box can produce up to four plants every eight to twelve weeks.
Compact and technologically advanced, the device features a
touchscreen console, fully-customizable controls, as well as
sensors that monitor everything from pH levels to humidity, an
odour-removing carbon filter and energy-efficient LED lighting.
Strategic Partner Developments:
Aurora has a broad partnership portfolio of cannabis and
cannabis-adjacent businesses which all provide valuable strategic
benefits to Aurora. The benefits include retail footprint and
customer insights, product technology/intellectual property, and
operational or cost advantages. The Company continuously evaluates
the strategic fit of these investments and may choose to monetize
investments which are no longer core to the strategic plan.
Alcanna Inc.
("Alcanna")
- Alcanna continues to build-out its cannabis retail store
network across Canada. In total,
Alcanna expects to have 31 Nova Cannabis locations open and
operating across the country by the end of December 2019.
- In Ontario, Nova Cannabis'
Queen Street West location is
currently averaging approximately $450,000 per week in sales making it the
top-performing store across all of Alcanna's 271 cannabis and
alcohol retail outlets.
- Aurora and MedReleaf's suite of consumer products remain in
demand and are a consistent top seller across all of Nova Cannabis'
retail stores.
Australis Capital Inc. ("Australis")
- Australis recently received approval for the commencement of
off-site work, utilities, and pre-construction on-site work such as
grading and leveling at its North Las
Vegas site in preparation for its proposed flagship
cultivation and manufacturing facility.
- Australis intends to transfer cultivation of its proprietary
brands at the facility upon completion: Tsunami® premium extracts,
Provisions® extracts, and Mr. Natural® premium line of organic
flower.
- Formerly a subsidiary of Aurora, Australis was spun out in
September 2018 and has completed nine
transactions since then. Aurora holds restricted back-in warrants
which permit Aurora to acquire 22,628,751 Australis shares plus 20%
of the number of outstanding Australis shares as of the date of
exercise. Aurora is prohibited from exercising the restricted
warrants unless all of Australis' business operations in
the United States become legal
under applicable federal and state laws and Aurora has received the
consent of the TSX and any other stock exchange on which Aurora may
be listed, as required.
Capcium Inc. ("Capcium")
- Capcium is currently in the final stages of construction at its
new state-of-the-art production facility with a capacity for up to
10 Health Canada, Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and European
Medicines Agency (EMEA) approved softgel encapsulation lines
capable of producing approximately 2.5 billion softgel capsules
annually. Construction is expected to be completed in Q4 2019 and
the new facility is expected to be licensed for cannabis production
in Q1 2020.
- Capcium recently closed a $28
million debt facility to support its long-term growth
initiatives, led by a Schedule 1 Bank.
- Choom Holdings Inc. ("Choom")
- Choom continues its cannabis retail buildout strategy. Choom
has 9 stores open and operating and is targeting 24 stores open
across Canada by January 2020.
- On June 14, 2019, Choom opened
its flagship Ontario retail store,
located in Niagara Falls,
Ontario.
- In the third quarter of 2019, Choom has further expanded its
retail footprint through the acquisition of a 19.9% equity interest
in Coastal Greens, a B.C cannabis retailer, as well as the rights
to seven additional retail locations in B.C. and Alberta, and a Ninetails Cannabis retail
cannabis store located in Whitehorse, Yukon.
CTT Pharmaceutical Holdings Inc. ("CTT")
- CTT's proprietary sublingual wafer technology provide unique
advantages over other ingestible products due to their ease of use,
accurate and repeatable dosage, and more rapid bioavailability of
cannabinoids.
- CTT and Aurora continue to work closely on the development of
this medical product and anticipate an imminent commercial launch
to Aurora's broad patient base.
EnWave Corporation ("EnWave")
- As previously announced, Aurora purchased two 120kW Radiant
Energy Vacuum ("REV™") machines and a 10kW machine for installation
in Canada.
- The 10kW machine has been installed and is operational at
Aurora's Prairie facility located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The two 120kW REV
machines are scheduled for delivery at Aurora Sky and Aurora Sun facilities in calendar Q4 2019.
- A single 120kW REV machine is capable of drying more than 40
metric tons of dried cannabis per annum, running on a single 8-hour
shift, 250 days per year.
High Tide Inc. ("High Tide")
- High Tide has expanded its retail cannabis store presence from
8 Canna Cabana stores at the end of June to 25 locations across
Canada, including its first
KushBar retail cannabis store in Camrose,
Alberta.
- High Tide continues to execute on development permits currently
in-hand to open the maximum number of 37 retail cannabis stores in
Alberta, while establishing new
locations in Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
- On September 30, 2019, High Tide
announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2019
featuring $8.3 million in revenue
generated during the quarter, which was a 281% increase over the
same period in 2018 and a 26% increase over the prior quarter.
Micron Waste Technologies Inc. ("Micron")
- Micron's Cannavore™ waste system prototype is currently
deployed at Aurora's Mountain facility near Calgary. Stress testing of shredding,
digesting and water processing capabilities are currently underway
of the facility's cannabis waste.
- Designed to Aurora's specifications, Cannavore™ is the world's
first closed-loop cannabis waste unit capable of processing organic
waste generated from the growth and cultivation of cannabis.
- Micron is currently preparing its Cannavore™ technology for
commercialization and future domestic and international sales,
including at additional Aurora facilities across Canada and Europe.
Radient Technologies Inc. ("RTI")
- Radient is currently extracting/processing a large inventory of
cannabis biomass for Aurora at its Edmonton I cannabis processing
facility (designed for 56,000 kg / year throughput capacity).
Extraction runs at Edmonton I proved Radient's proprietary
continuous flow extraction process consistently delivers more than
95% recovery of cannabinoids from cannabis biomass. Extracts also
maintained product stability, including negligible cannabinoid
degradation.
- Radient's Edmonton II hemp processing facility, designed to
process 420,000 kg / year of hemp, is expected to commence
production at the end of calendar 2019. Construction of the
Edmonton III cannabis and hemp processing facility is well
underway, with initial commissioning estimated to occur in late
calendar 2020, scaling up to its intended full capacity of 280,000
kg/year of cannabis and 2.8M kg/year
of hemp thereafter.
- Initial commissioning at Radient's Germany cannabis and hemp processing facility
is expected to occur in late calendar 2020, scaling up to its
intended full capacity of 280,000 kg/year of cannabis and
2.8M kg/year of hemp thereafter.
About Aurora
Headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada with funded capacity in excess of 625,000 kg per
annum and sales and operations in 25 countries across five
continents, Aurora is one of the world's largest and leading
cannabis companies. Aurora is vertically integrated and
horizontally diversified across every key segment of the value
chain, from facility engineering and design to cannabis breeding
and genetics research, cannabis and hemp production, derivatives,
high value-add product development, home cultivation, wholesale and
retail distribution.
Highly differentiated from its peers, Aurora has established a
uniquely advanced, consistent and efficient production strategy,
based on purpose-built facilities that integrate leading-edge
technologies across all processes, defined by extensive automation
and customization, resulting in the massive scale production of
high-quality consistent product. Designed to be replicable and
scalable globally, our production facilities are designed to
produce cannabis at significant scale, with high quality,
industry-leading yields, and low-per gram production costs. Each of
Aurora's facilities is built to meet European Union Good
Manufacturing Practices ("EU GMP") standards. Certification has
been granted to Aurora's first production facility in Mountain View
County, the MedReleaf Markham facility, and its wholly owned
European medical cannabis distributor Aurora Deutschland. All
Aurora facilities are designed and built to the EU GMP
standard.
In addition to the Company's rapid organic growth and strong
execution on strategic M&A, which to date includes 17 wholly
owned subsidiary companies – MedReleaf, CanvasRX, Peloton
Pharmaceutical, Aurora Deutschland, H2 Biopharma, BC Northern
Lights, Larssen Greenhouses, CanniMed Therapeutics, Anandia,
HotHouse Consulting, MED Colombia, Agropro, Borela, ICC Labs,
Whistler, Chemi Pharmaceutical,
and Hempco – Aurora is distinguished by its reputation as a partner
and employer of choice in the global cannabis sector, having
invested in and established strategic partnerships with a range of
leading innovators, including: Radient Technologies Inc. (TSXV:
RTI), Cann Group Ltd. (ASX: CAN), Micron Waste Technologies Inc.
(CSE: MWM), Choom Holdings Inc. (CSE: CHOO), CTT Pharmaceuticals
(OTCC: CTTH), Alcanna Inc. (TSX: CLIQ), High Tide Inc. (CSE: HITI),
EnWave Corporation (TSXV: ENW), Capcium Inc. (private), Evio Beauty
Group (private), and Wagner Dimas (private).
Aurora's Common Shares trade on the TSX and NYSE under the
symbol "ACB", and is a constituent of the S&P/TSX Composite
Index.
For more information about Aurora, please visit our investor
website, investor.auroramj.com
Terry Booth,
CEO
Aurora Cannabis Inc.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release includes statements containing certain
"forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable
securities law ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking
statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan",
"continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate",
"estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other
similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions
"may" or "will" occur, including, but not limited to, the
time frames associated with the completion of the Company's
facilities, the ability of the Company to scale up construction
projects to mirror the global demand, the Company's control
over environmental and harvest conditions in "Sky
Class" facilities and the associated yield and quality of cannabis
produced at such facilities, and the potential increase in the
Company's capacity to ship product to the European market related
to obtaining EU GMP certification . These statements are only
predictions. Various assumptions were used in drawing the
conclusions or making the projections contained in the
forward-looking statements throughout this news release.
Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates
of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject
to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that
could cause actual events or results to differ materially from
those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company is
under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or
obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise,
except as expressly required by applicable law.
Neither TSX, NYSE nor their applicable Regulation Services
Providers (as that term is defined in the policies of the Toronto
Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange) accept responsibility
for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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SOURCE Aurora Cannabis Inc.