Kāriki Pharma signs agreement to export medicinal cannabis in Germany

Medicinal cannabis was legalised in Germany in 2017 and according to a recent report by Prohibition Partners, there are already an estimated 60,000 patients in the country where medicinal cannabis is covered by public health insurers.

New Zealand-made medicinal cannabis will be available to patients in Germany once a new agreement between Kāriki Pharma and leading German distributor of medicinal cannabis, AMP German Cannabis Group Inc. (CSE: XCX) (FSE: C4T, ISIN: CA00176G1028) is put into effect.

Steve Wilson, CEO of Kāriki Pharma, said, “Over recent months we have been working to secure a number of agreements which lay the foundations for us to become a leading New Zealand company, taking local innovation and scientific excellence to the world. This agreement with AMP marks a significant new milestone for Kāriki Pharma on the path to achieving international sales."

“We already have state-of-the-art research and growing facility, preliminary agreements with world-leading NZ cultivators for supply of raw materials and, critically, a world-renowned pharmaceutical manufacturing capability with decades of experience producing medicines to the highest standards. With domestic production capability being developed, this new agreement now opens the way to Europe’s largest medicinal cannabis market.”

Medicinal cannabis was legalised in Germany in 2017 and according to a recent report by Prohibition Partners, there are already an estimated 60,000 patients in the country where medicinal cannabis is covered by public health insurers. The total estimated market value for medicinal cannabis in Germany in 2018 was EUR73 million euros (NZD127 million). The firm projects this figure will rise to EUR7.5 billion (NZD13 billion) by 2028.

 Dr Stefan Feuerstein, Director and President of AMP, stated, “AMP aims to become one of the leading importers of European Union – Good Manufacturing Practices (EU-GMP) medical cannabis into Germany through its network of suppliers from Canada, Europe and other non-European countries. This agreement sets the scene for adding New Zealand as one of our non-European suppliers.”

Kāriki Pharma is currently preparing for local cultivation and production under New Zealand’s new Medicinal Cannabis Scheme which came into effect on 1 April 2020 and expects to be able to fulfil first orders for AMP in 2021.