Portuguese grower's in-house breeding program now operational

Avextra Portugal announced its in-house breeding program is now operational. The goal of the program is to establish and stabilize plant IP for proprietary cannabis varieties in its Portuguese cultivation facility.

Avextra's botanical research team is led by Alan Sutton, former Director of Botanical Research at GW Pharmaceuticals, the company behind Sativex and Epidiolex—the only two cannabinoid-based medicines to receive regulatory approval in multiple regions—acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals in 2021. The team is also led by genetics expert Steven Tan, who has sourced unique and varied genetics with specific traits of value through his decades of experience in multiple regions around the world.

Over a two-year R&D period, Avextra's agronomic team in Portugal has germinated over 600 seeds and identified a number of unique phenotypes through chemical analysis, which have been bred to produce the specific cannabinoid ratios identified by the company's team.