West Virginia is preparing to announce the winners of the state’s 10 medical cannabis cultivation licenses, according to a MetroNews report.

Jason Frame, director of the West Virginia Office of Medical Cannabis, said Sept. 17 that regulators plan to issue the licenses within the next week, the news outlet reported.

Thirty-nine applicants are vying for the 10 licenses, and once they are awarded, licensees will have six months to develop their operations, according to MetroNews.

Once the state issues its cultivation licenses, it will begin scoring dispensary applications, the news outlet reported.

The Office of Medical Cannabis continues to register physicians for the program, and 29 physicians have been registered to date, according to MetroNews.

Frame told the news outlet that the state plans to begin registering patients for the program in the early spring, with sales expected to launch in the spring or summer of 2021.