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Inside the UK's £10m 'secret' medical cannabis plant

2024-12-08 14:27:00, Blog CNA

Since it was legalized in the UK, the number of medicinal cannabis prescriptions has increased. With demand showing no signs of slowing down, one company has ambitions to take drug production to a new level.

The BBC has been given access to the factory on condition the location remains secret. To enter, they had to show identification, pass through two secure gates and finally go through a bulletproof door. The security team is ex-military.

"We have hundreds of CCTV cameras around the site, all infrared," says James Leavesley, one of Dalgety's founders.

According to the company, this high-tech facility is the first in the UK where cannabis can be grown, packaged and sold directly to pharmacies from a single location.

Inside the UK's £10m 'secret' medical cannabis plant

James first became interested in growing legal cannabis six years ago. Although he comes from an agricultural profession, he has worked in the oil and gas industry for many years.

In 2018, when cannabis was legalized for medical use in the United Kingdom, the demand for this drug caught his attention.

"There was a government survey showing that there are 1.8 million people in the UK who obtain illegal cannabis to help ease their medical conditions," he says.

That same year, he discussed the matter while sitting around the dinner table with his father and a family friend.

The friend discovered that he was also keen to get into the cannabis sector, so they decided to go into business together and formed Dalgety.

However they needed someone who had experience in the real world of producing cannabis on a large scale.

Inside the UK's £10m 'secret' medical cannabis plant

They looked to Canada, where the drug has been legal since 2018.

"We knew we wanted to go and look outside the UK for a skilled grower and Canada has been at the forefront of that for so long," says James.

"Growing cannabis is completely different to any other crop and we wanted someone who had experience."

After extensive research, they decided to headhunt a grower named Brady Green. Brady had previously designed and built several licensed cannabis facilities in his home country and was well known for his work, James says.

He acted as a consultant to the company for three years, before being recruited as their chief manufacturer. Brady went on to design the entire structure, including the robust security needed to protect the site.

Inside the UK's £10m 'secret' medical cannabis plant

"We have different access control points, limited access to which employees and visitors can go to certain areas," adds James.

"It is really important for the amount of cannabis we are growing in the country that the UK Home Office takes our security measures seriously."

Despite the huge investment for James and his business partners, their efforts came with no guarantee of success.

Growing and selling cannabis legally requires a license from the Home Office. Cannabis must also be grown to a certain standard and sent for testing before it is approved for sale.

But James and his partners were convinced it was worth the risk, given the strong growth of markets in countries such as Canada, the US and Germany.

Inside the UK's £10m 'secret' medical cannabis plant

In January 2023, Dalgety secured a Home Office license to grow cannabis and in April of that year they began cultivation.

In total, more than 600 samples were sent to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The business had spent £8m to £10m to get to this point, so the stakes were high.

In September of this year, James and the team secured their second license, which allowed them to sell cannabis. James believes the challenge of obtaining both licenses is why no one else has been able to build a facility. "all-in-one".

Inside the UK's £10m 'secret' medical cannabis plant

"It's almost two industries combined into one, so it's an agricultural business and it's also a medical and pharmaceutical business, and most people have the ability to specialize in one or the other, but not both," he says.

The company aims to launch its product in January. At this point, James says they will be able to produce enough for 4,000 prescriptions a month, and the company already has a partnership with prescriptions and clinics. There are currently about 50,000 medical cannabis users who receive prescriptions from 33 pharmacies. private.

Inside the UK's £10m 'secret' medical cannabis plant

However, very few people are given the drug on the NHS. The reason for this is that not all medicinal cannabis products are approved for use by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Those that are, use only certain parts of the plant./ Adapted from CNA