As part of their report on Colombia, Alvaro Torres, CEO of Khiron Life Sciences Corp., spoke with The Business Year on leveraging Colombia’s many natural strengths in cannabis cultivation, branding as a value-added pharmaceutical, and changing misconceptions.

 
According to Alvaro, the country’s clear potential – its low-cost advantage, optimal climate, and large population – first spurred him to enter the business. As part of the company’s success strategy, Khiron seeks to bring their business into the Canadian capital markets, and brand itself as a value-added pharmaceutical.

 
However, operating in a new and unique industry does not come without certain challenges:

 
“The greatest challenge has been changing misconceptions of cannabis. We need to build a company that more closely resembles a pharmaceutical than a cannabis company, and we have been trying to make the business community understand exactly what this business can be. Now, we are working on improving perceptions about these products among physicians.” – Alvaro Torres (The Business Year, 2018).

To further physician and patient education around medical cannabis, and to help develop a strong industry in Colombia, Khiron has worked to develop strong relationships with medical associations and formed the first cannabis guild.

 
“We cannot build a successful business on an empty street: we need a thriving community of companies to develop a new industry,” concludes Alvaro.

 
For further information, please refer to the original news item. 
Heart, Joints and Minds. (2018). The Business Year. Retrieved from: