Medicinal cannabis in Germany - Business Report

150 Confidential __________________________________________________________________________________ All importers have so far obtained their Cannabis products exclusively from the Netherlands and Canada. Medicinal Cannabis from Holland can only be passed on through the state Cannabis agency, which buys it from Bedrocan, the sole producer of Cannabis medicines. The existing importers are bound by their respective corporate structure to certain producers of medicinal Cannabis, mainly in Canada. Other countries, such as Israel or Australia, have the necessary governmental structures for the international trade in Cannabis, but are not yet considered by existing traffickers as production sites. Cannamedical from Cologne and ACA Müller ADAG Pharma GmbH from Hilzingen, in contrast to the other suppliers, are not bound to certain producers or markets. This enables the companies to import Cannabis from every imaginable producer, from every imaginable country, after the necessary official licensing, into Germany. The Frankfurt import company Cansativa wants to play it safe and import small quantities of Can- nabis flowers and extracts for analytical purposes from Columbia and Uruguay before the goods are offered for patient care. Until now, imports from Uruguay to Germany have not been possible. Cansa- tiva reported that the BfArM had approved the import of small quantities of Cannabis flowers and extracts from Colombia and Uruguay. The corresponding notice of approval from the BfArM according to § 3 BtMG is available. This makes Cansativa the first European company allowed to import medical Cannabis from Latin America for analysis and to establish a secure supply chain. The products come from the manufacturers Clever Leaves in Colombia, which specializes in the production of Cannabis oil, and Fotmer Life Sciences in Uruguay , which wants to offer Cannabis flo- wers and extracts. According to Cansativa, both companies are in the final stages of their GMP certifi- cation. 9.3 Wholesalers of Cannabis in Germany Initially, especially the Cannabis flowers and extracts and almost all Cannabis oils were purchased directly from the manufacturers, bypassing the wholesale trade. Neither the established pharmaceu- tical wholesale trade in Germany nor the pharmacists really liked this. In themeantime, this is changing and increasingly the Cannabis prescription products are also available through regular wholesalers. The finished pharmaceuticals Sativex® and Canemes®, on the other hand, were always available through regular wholesalers. The imported drug Marinol®, on the other hand, is often only available through specialized wholesalers or international pharmacies.