The Auscann Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: AC8) share price has been a big mover today after the pot stock announced that its first medicinal cannabis crop in Chile is now being harvested.
At the time of writing AusCann's share price is up almost 6.5% to 82.5 cents.
According to the release approximately 300kgs of dried cannabis product from the harvest will be sent to a GMP certified manufacturing facility to be processed into medicinal cannabis formulations.
Furthermore, of the strains harvested, four have been selected as superior strains which have been clonally selected for future crops.
What's next?
Should the clinical trials in Chile be successful, these formulations will be registered through the Chilean National Institute of Public Health and then made available for sale to Chilean patients and export markets.
This will also allow AusCann to import product ahead of the expected demand from authorised prescribers and patients in Australia, putting the company in a strong position to quickly provide patients access to the medication.
As well as the significant opportunity in the Australian market, managing director Elaine Darby believes there is a lucrative opportunity for medical cannabis products to be used for pain control in the South American market.
She is confident the company and its joint venture partner have selected the strongest and most appropriate strains for effective medicine formulations.
Should you invest?
Whilst I am a big fan of AusCann and its talented management team, I wouldn't necessarily rush into an investment at this point purely on valuation grounds.
The shares of AusCann and fellow pot stocks Zelda Therapeutics Ltd (ASX: ZLD), Creso Pharma Ltd (ASX: CPH), and MMJ Phytotech Ltd (ASX: MMJ) have all run hard in recent weeks.
With a significant amount of growth baked into their share prices, I plan to watch from the sidelines for the time being until the sales come rolling in.
