International Goldfields (ASX:IGS) has provided more detail on key executive appointments made by Uruguayan hemp and cannabis company Winter Garden Biosciences.
IGS had agreed in mid May to acquire an 85% interest in the company. An indicative date of 17 July 2015 is set for completion of approvals and execution of the purchase agreement.
Recent key senior appointments to Winter Garden's executive team will drive business development.
Julian Strauss, the founder of Winter Garden, said: “We are fortunate to be so well placed with our state of the art laboratory and access to a to high quality personnel courtesy of our relationships with top academic institutions in the country.
"Our ability to scale human resources economically will be critical to our growth as we build out the business.”
Julian Strauss has been working as a licensed medical marijuana producer, researcher and agricultural hemp producer since 2007 in Sakatchewan, Canada.
His focus has been on genetics, variety stabilisation through cell tissue culture, and proteomics and therapeutic expressions of cannabinoids in heirloom varieties.
Strauss has created numerous proprietary formulations, technologies and agricultural systems that the company intends to bring to market to its unique position in the legalised hemp and cannabinoid research and development opportunity presented in Uruguay.
Daniel Sztern, Inter-regulatory Cooperation Liaison has held senior positions in the Uruguayan Government, including the National Director of the Environment, Environmental Management.
He has a consultancy dedicated primarily to environmental studies including strategic environmental assessment.
Dr Nils Rehmann Ph.D., Pharmacology and Toxicology is a chemist with strong expertise in chemical analytical techniques associated with extensive experience in leading laboratory teams and managing multiple projects.
Amongst his previous work, Dr Rehmann has created methodology for a governmental laboratory to facilitate QC testing for licensed producers under the MMPR legislation of Canada.
In this capacity he has closely worked with Health Canada and stakeholders to create Standard Operating Procedures and validation protocols to analyse medical marijuana to meet regulatory guidelines.
Dr Rehmann will be in charge of the standardisation and protocols for research in trials and development of industrial hemp.
Daniel Carbo, Nanosystems Engineer is pursuing his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the Chemical University of Uruguay (UDELAR) researching on signal transduction of CB1 and CB2 g- coupled protein human cannabinoid receptors.
Carbo will be in charge of the standardisation and protocols for research in trials and development of industrial hemp.
He will create protocols for harvest, extraction, laboratory work and research specs, as well as lab build out, research overview, DNA, seed registration and breeding programs.
Oscar Florencio Caputi Vázquez, Agronomic Engineer is in charge of the research and legal aspects of the cannabis agriculture project, he is the representative behind Winter Garden's adaptation and breeding programs, and overseer of the registration and research of new cannabis genetics.
Sabina Vidal, Genetic Sequencing. Dr Vidal who did her doctorate in Molecular Genetics at Swedish University of agricultural sciences is the research leader for development projects focused on standardisation and genetic sequencing for seed development
Winter Garden approach
Winter Garden seeks to control every phase of the its business from research and testing for product creation all the way through to a fully finished and packaged product for the end user.
This one-stop-shop infrastructure allows Winter Garden to innovate and deliver its medical solutions at a considerably lower cost and in a much shorter timeframe than its competition.
An integral step on the path to bioceutical and pharmaceutical patents is stabilisation and genetic registration of valuable cultivars.
The standardisation can only be achieved through rigorous control of growth environment and genetic isolation, a service Winter Garden will offer to its partners and the research community as a whole to help push current legislative barriers into the next phase of medical marijuana research.
