Present in 66 countries and with about 57 thousand employees, Merck is the oldest pharmaceutical lab in the world still in operation. It was inaugurated in 1668, in Germany. It has always invested in technology and innovation in the health field. That’s possibly one of the reasons that have brought it so far. This Friday (10), Merck Brazil’s press office confirmed it has entered the cannabis business.

The new transactions will be co-managed with cannabis business accelerator The Green Hub, the first national platform to focus on developing startups on the segment. “Brazil has all necessary conditions to become a protagonist in regards to cannabis potential,” says Marcelo De Vita Grecco, co-founder and head of business development at The Green Hub. He is referring to the potential agricultural and industrial product - not just from the beginning but to the end of the chain.

“Our goal is to supply the Brazilian market with technical knowledge geared towards research and development, quality control and biometric applications to potencialize the cultivation of hemp,” says Fabio Demétrio”, head of research and solutions for Merck Brazil. The company intends to use hemp in the medicinal production of cosmetics, amongst others.

Director of innovation and entrepreneurship of The Green Hub, Alex Lucena, reveals that one of the partnership’s goals is to develop an educational tool to ensure free access to information about the plant’s effect on health and many patients’ wellbeing. The companies don’t have overly open goals yet, or applied investments.

For the market, this announcement signals another goal post that might help shape the new legislation that is soon to come from Brasília. “The market is even stronger and more relevant,” says Lucena. “Besides, when the big players step into the field, a domino effect takes place that could well cause change up to the country´s rulings.”