Verdemed Is Weathering The COVID-19 Storm By Focusing On Consumers

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

Verdemed, a Canadian pharmaceutical cannabis company, is on a mission to bring cannabinoid-based medicinal products to Latin America. But in light of COVID-19, the company has had to put some of its plans on hold. 

In the past year, Verdemed has achieved full license to grow, extract, and export crops in Colombia, as well as acquired a certified and licensed pharmaceutical laboratory in Brazil, allowing the company to expand its agricultural and pharmaceutical programs. But according to President and CEO Jose Bacellar, Verdemed is temporarily pausing its efforts on its B2B and pharmaceutical programs and is solely focused on its B2C product lines at the moment. 

“We decided to freeze all CapEx, we are not going to move forward with any intensive allocation of capital,” he said during the Benzinga Virtual Deal Room. “That basically means pausing Verdemed Agri and Verdemed Pharma and focusing on Verdemed Care.”

But Bacellar, who was a former executive at Canopy Growth Corp CGC before leaving to found Verdemed in 2018, is still bullish on Latin America as a growth market for cannabis despite the near-term economic headwinds. 

He noted that the company is coming off a strong year, capped off by a recently completed partnership with a private-label U.S-based producer of CBD. The deal allows Verdemed to begin its pharma program so the company can conduct intensive research and development of its products.

Once the COVID-19 crisis is past us, he said the company will go back to focusing on Verdemed Agri, its B2B white-label service, and Verdemed Pharma, which focuses on the formulation and development of generic pharmaceuticals. He’s hopeful that will happen sooner rather than later because of the speed in which the industry moves. 

“One year in cannabis is equivalent to five years in any other industry,” said Bacellar. “Considering the intensity of what’s going on in the real world, whether that be changes in the regulatory framework, consumer and doctor behavior, or the value chain of the cannabis industry, this intensity requires that companies who want to succeed and thrive be as quick as the real world.”

To learn more about Verdemed and its mission, click here.

Photo by Kimzy Nanney on Unsplash 

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.