Little Green Pharma (LGP) and Althea announced significant moves into the highly lucrative German market this week.
While LGP exported an initial 2,400 units of branded medicinal cannabis oil to German pharmaceutical importer CC Pharma GmbH valued at more than A$600,000, Athea said the country’s Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices has granted the licences it needs for the sale and distribution of Althea products in Germany via distribution partner Nimbus Health GmbH.
Althea expects to ship 2,000 products in December 2020 subject to import and export permit application approvals, and will receive payment for products supplied to Nimbus plus 50% of the net profit on sales.
LGP said delivery of its shipment follows a 22-month process of negotiation, quality inspection and audit and procurement of German and Australian narcotic licences and permits, reflecting the high regulatory barriers to the export of medicinal cannabis products to the European Union.
It described the shipment as a critical milestone in its commercial strategy of establishing high-volume distribution channels into lucrative, high-margin European and offshore markets.
LGP Managing director Fleta Solomon said: “The demand for LGP products signifies not only a vote of confidence in LGP, but also in the ability of Australia’s homegrown medicinal cannabis industry to compete with major international medicinal cannabis companies to supply the German market.”
Althea CEO Joshua Fegan said: “We are very pleased that all relevant licences have been granted. This will allow Althea to focus on the sale and distribution of our products in the German market through Nimbus. We expect to see rapid uptake given Althea’s reputation and Nimbus’ established market presence in Germany.”
Germany is the third largest medicinal cannabis market globally behind the US and Canada, and the largest in Europe, currently worth between A$243 million and A$283 million and estimated to grow to A$2.4 billion by 2025.
