Top 5 European Companies Taking Global Weed Market To the Next Level
European cannabis startups are actively entering a promising market. Over the past few years, Europe has seen positive developments regarding the legalization, cultivation, and trade of medical cannabis, which opens up new opportunities for startups and entrepreneurs to introduce and apply various technologies in this area.
It is not surprising that some startup companies have already begun to conquer the medical marijuana market. Much of Europe has been in quarantine over the past few months, so consumers are now willing to improve their mental and physical health with marijuana-induced medications rather than chemical substances. Therefore, more startups and established brands come into play: some are researching cannabidiol (CBD)-containing medicines, while others are working on door-to-door weed delivery solutions.
In recent years, many European countries have changed their view on the use of cannabis for different purposes. Cannabis organizations are spreading across a variety of products, from stress-relieving chewing gum to pain relief tampons containing CBD.
Here are our Top 5 Cannabis Brands that are disrupting the weed market in Europe.
Somai Pharmaceuticals
Somai Pharmaceuticals is a company specializing in the extraction of cannabinoids from plants to create formulations for the EU market. Founded by Michael Sassano who also owns a U.S.-based cannabis startup Solaris Farms, the company operates in Greece and is heavily focussed on the German market which is considered to be the most advanced cannabis market in Europe (est. at $100 million vs U.S. market valued at $10 billion).
Somai Pharmaceuticals has already rented the land and started to cultivate marijuana from a seed fund. The company is planning to yield its first crop in 2021. And from there, it’s planning to sell the bulk to Germany that has about 70 thousand patients prescribed marijuana. By the end of 2020, according to Sassano’s estimates, their number will grow to 250 thousand.
Spectrum Therapeutics
Depending on the patient’s personal situation, the doctor can recommend a product that is THC- or CBD-dominant or contains an equal mixture of both active ingredients.
Spectrum Therapeutics divides medicinal cannabinoid varieties into color categories. Each color stands for a certain percentage of THC and CBD.
The company is affiliated with Canopy Growth Corporation, formerly Tweed Marijuana Inc., a cannabis company based in Smiths Falls, Ontario.
Spectrum encompasses all of Canopy Growth’s ongoing medical and research activities including Canopy Health Innovations, Beckley Canopy Therapeutics, and the latest addition to Canopy Growth’s medical portfolio in Germany, Bionorica’s C3 Cannabinoid Compound Company.
In Germany, Spectrum Therapeutics includes established brands such as THC Pharm and Bionorica ethics and replaces the “old” brand Spektrum Cannabis.
Spectrum Therapeutics’ research programs aim to develop natural herbal medicines and CBD-based health products to improve the quality of life for people with acute and chronic diseases.
AMP German Cannabis Group
AMP German Cannabis Group is licensed to import European Union medical cannabis – Good Manufacturing Practice (EU-GMP) from Europe and other countries to Germany. AMP manufactures, stores, transports, delivers, and sells medical cannabis products directly to pharmaceutical distributors or pharmacists, which is the only point of sale for medical cannabis to German patients on prescription.
AMP has entered into a non-exclusive distribution agreement for medical cannabis with a leading distributor of pharmaceutical products in more than 13,000 pharmacies throughout Germany. AMP imports medical cannabis from the Netherlands and Canada.
The company closed the first tranche of its private placement without mediation on September 9, 2020. In the first tranche, AMP raised a gross revenue of $390,525 by issuing 1,115,785 common shares at a subscription price of $0.35 per share and subject to four-month shelf life. AMP paid an expert fee of $1,715 and issued warrants for 4,900 claims.
GW PharmaceuticalsÂ
GW Pharmaceuticals is an organization specialized in the production of hemp-induced medicines. In particular, the firm is testing a drug for the treatment of epileptic seizures based on marijuana. It is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the discovery, development, and commercialization of prescription drugs using herbal extracts derived from cannabis. Its main product is Epidiolex, an oral medication for the treatment of refractory childhood epilepsy, as well as for the treatment of Dravet syndrome, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, tuberous sclerosis complex, and infantile spasms.
The company also develops and markets Sativex, an oromucosal spray for the treatment of spasticity due to multiple sclerosis. In addition, it is developing various candidate drugs for the treatment of glioblastoma, neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy and schizophrenia. GW Pharmaceuticals plc was founded in 1998 and is based in Cambridge, UK.
Altria Group
UK-based Altria Group, a manufacturer of famous Marlboro cigarettes for the U.S. market, moves into the Canadian cannabis industry, marking the first foray of a large tobacco company into the nascent sector.
Altria agreed to acquire 146.2 million newly issued shares of Cronos at a price of CAD 16.25 each, a 16% premium over the previous close. This will give Altria 45% of the Canadian cannabis producer. Altria will also receive warrants allowing it to increase its stake to 55%.
The Cronos deal gives Altria a foothold in Canada, which became the first major economy to legalize marijuana for adult use at the federal level. Meanwhile, Cronos is gaining “product development and commercialization capabilities, as well as in-depth regulatory knowledge,” the company said in a statement.
Stay tuned with Software Focus!