Medicinal cannabis in Germany - Business Report

151 Confidential __________________________________________________________________________________ The "classical" pharmaceutical wholesale trade will in any case remain the supplier of finished phar- maceuticals with Cannabinoids as active ingredients. The future will show to what extent prescription drugs containing Cannabis or Dronabinol can also be obtained through this distribution channel. Around 90 percent of the market is served by the following providers: Phoenix, Noweda, Gehe, Sanacorp and Alliance Healthcare. The remainder is shared by the owner-managed, mainly regionally active wholesalers and the "special case" AEP, which are combined in the Pharma Privat group. Figure 52: Locations of wholesale trade in Germany Most of the companies listed in Section 9.2 Importers also have a wholesale licence and thus also performwholesale activities but focus only on Cannabis products. In most cases, they can by no means be classified as full-range suppliers. The importers' policy on returns and conditions is also significantly worse for pharmacies than that of traditional pharmaceutical wholesalers. This leads to problems between importers and pharmacies, especially in the case of Cannabis flowers, which often have a shelf life of only a few months. 9.4 Distribution channels of Cannabis in Germany Cannabis reaches pharmacies and final consumers via sometimes tortuous routes. Many products are simply purchased over the Internet and often come from questionable sources. Often products are also purchased directly from the manufacturers.