Looks like unloading surplus manufacturing sites to the cannabis industry is turning into a budding business for pharma. At the same time Novartis was negotiating a deal to sell a Colorado plant to a CBD producer, a former Pfizer site was leased to a medical marijuana supplier.
Vireo Health says it has leased a 40,000 square foot former Pfizer site in Cruce Dávila Business Park, in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico to house its cultivation and processing operations.
“We are thrilled to expand into the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, one of the largest pharmaceutical hubs in the world,” Vireo CEO Kyle Kingsley, M.D., said in a statement. “This expansion will give us access to the island’s deep pool of talented professionals, create a wide variety of jobs, and allow us to help many more patients.”
A Pfizer spokeswoman said it had earlier sold the site in Cruce Dávila to another company. It says it still has sites in Puerto Rico in Barceloneta, Guayama and Vega Baja.
Vireo spokesperson Albe Zakes said in an email that surplus pharma facilities are ideal for cannabis companies. "We require many of the same types of machinery and outfitting – strong security systems, clean rooms, testing facilities, laboratories,"
Read more at fiercepharma.com