ICC added that it actively investigating complementary pharmacy related assets within Colombia that may serve as synergistic accompaniments to its acquisition of Farma Swiss.

Under the LOI, International Cannabis will issue AgraFlora a number of common shares in the capital of ICC that equals to $250,000, based upon the five-day variable weighted average price of ICC’s common shares for the five trading sessions prior to the announcement of an agreement.

“This strategic transaction further crystalises our alliance with ICC with regards our collaborative pursuit of the burgeoning global cannabis industry,” said Brandon Boddy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AgraFlora Organics International.

“Monetising our flagship pharmacy operation through a trusted ally permits us to streamline our international cannabis operations while focusing on the continued retrofit of our world-class greenhouse complex in Delta, BC. We are excited to be increasing our shareholdings in ICC as they continue to execute upon their international business mandate and embark upon realising material cash flows,” he added.

“By integrating Farma Swiss’ intuitive pharmacy platform with our 13-hectare cannabis centre of excellence and preeminent catalogue of native Colombian cannabis genetics, ICC will continue to solidify its leadership position within Colombia’s highly competitive medical cannabis marketplace, while streamlining patients access to our unique formulations,” said David Shpilt, Chief Executive Officer, International Cannabis Corp.

The agreement provides International Cannabis with a Latin American brick-and-mortar presence, as well as an existing commercial agreement, further augmenting its tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) cultivation capabilities and logistical infrastructure.

ICC’s addition of a premier downstream Colombian asset conceives a compliant and secure platform for the distribution of medical cannabis and cannabinoid-derived products within Colombia.

Farma Swiss is part of Pure Grow Medicinals S.A.S. It operates a licensed pharmacy strategically situated within a high traffic, commercial neighbourhood of Medellin, Colombia.

The post ICC to buy AgraFlora’s Colombian pharmacy operation first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The appointment comes in a time when SiGMA is growing not only in terms of shows they organise in Malta on a yearly basis, but also expanding overseas, looking to build new opportunities and bring the business to a global scale.

Rick Goddard joined the company at the beginning of April, tasked with reviewing procedures and setting new targets for each of the event verticals in 2019. His has commercial experience from a variety of sectors, most recently focussed on blockchain, cryptocurrencies and the ICO market, according to the press announcement.

“I am delighted to take on the role of CCO and support Eman and the group as global success appears on the horizon,” Mr Goddard said. “The company has grown quickly and I look forward to being central to the next stages of its global evolution,” he added.

“We are delighted to appoint Rick to the position of Chief Commercial Officer, adding to our C-level talent as we take the SiGMA Group to new heights around the world,” Mr Pulis said. “With SiGMA Manila 2020 set to be as big as our SiGMA show in Malta, and with the Emirates Blockchain Summit just around the corner, Rick will be crucial to the continued success of the group in meeting commercial objectives over coming years,” the founder CEO added.

SiGMA stands before a busy year, with the spring edition of the Malta A.I. & Blockchain Summit right at the corner. In addition to another blockchain venue scheduled for November, the iGaming SiGMA event and the first Medical Cannabiz World in Malta, the company is expanding into the Middle East and eyes Asia for further events.

The post SiGMA welcomes new commercial chief first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Dialogue on medical cannabis has sped up in recent years, many countries having already opened up or seriously planning to open up for utilising products from the plant for healing. Additionally, beyond the decriminalisaion of recreational usage, some countries are weighing the possibilities of legalising cannabis for leisure use. Cannabis has come a long way from being mentioned on the same page with hard drugs triggering life-long addiction and demise. Malta has been progressive about medical cannabis and could become one of the early starters in the field in Europe.

“Politically speaking, the country is in an advantageous position to develop a medicinal cannabis industry, particularly owing to the fact that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is a huge advocate both for medical and commercial purposes. He has expressed his support for Malta becoming a key regional producer — and exporter — of medical cannabis and the county’s trade routes, climate and regulatory infrastructure can support that,” Alexandra Curley, Head of Insights at Prohibition Partners, tells Business Malta.

Malta decriminalised the possession of small amounts of cannabis in 2015 and legalised medical cannabis in March 2018. In the past year, companies with expertise in medical cannabis have appeared to cast an eye on the island. A handful of them is already negotiating with Malta Enterprise, a government body responsible for assisting investors in the country, about grabbing a licence and setting up shop in here.

PM Muscat earlier said that “the current system favours criminals and it would be far better to have controls over its distribution”. His governing party expressed support for looking at legal models adopted by countries like Canada. Currently, medical cannabis cultivation for domestic consumption and for international exports is legalised in Malta.

Immense market

With a population of more than 740 million people — more than double of the United States and Canada together — Europe has a promising future in the upcoming years in terms of medical cannabis. “Over the last twelve months, the European cannabis industry has grown more than it has in the last six years,” Prohibition Partners says in its “The European Cannabis Report 2019 4th Edition”. Six countries have announced new legislation and over €500m has been invested in European cannabis businesses. “According to our findings, Europe’s cannabis market is estimated to be worth up to €123b by 2028 and will likely become the world’s largest legal market over the next five years,” the report says.

“According to our findings, Europe’s cannabis market is estimated to be worth up to €123b by 2028 and will likely become the world’s largest legal market over the next five years,”

The European Cannabis Report 2019 by Prohibition Partners says.

Prohibition Partners — founded in 2017 with a mission to open up the international cannabis industry through reliable data and intelligence — estimates the medicinal cannabis market to be worth €58b by 2028 and the recreational cannabis market to come around €65b by 2028, in Europe. This is the unfolding market that Malta is most likely to tap into.

“Malta sits in a highly-interesting and strategic position between Europe and Africa but as a European Union member state, Malta is likely to tap into the European market, which presents higher value growth opportunities for cannabis exporters,” Ms Curley tells BM. “Despite its geographical proximity to Africa, I think it is unlikely that Africa will become an export market for Malta. Cannabis, both recreationally and medically, is still illegal in the vast majority of Africa and the three nations with legal medical frameworks (Lesotho, Zimbabwe and South Africa) have plans to develop domestic markets,” she adds.

‘Progressive’ nation

As a member of the European Union, Malta is more likely to be producing cannabis to EU-GMP standards which could possibly give the country an advantage over products manufactured outside the bloc. The country appears to sport a promising future in this field, being one of the most forward-thinking nations in the European Union.

“Malta is definitely seen as progressive in relation to other EU countries. Obviously, all eyes are on the region’s leaders like the Netherlands, Germany and Italy, but Malta has passed legislation to decriminalise recreational cannabis and also promote a profitable and accessible medical cannabis industry,” Ms Curley says.

The legislative environment seems to have created a safety net for providing services to high standards. “The law is definitely less ambiguous than other countries who have begun the process of legalisation of cannabis — South Africa being a case in point, where key definitions are unclear around what constitutes personal use or private space. The Maltese regulations have been designed to ensure that standards are maintained, thus preserving the country’s ability to benefit financially from the industry, particularly with regard to employment, taxes and revenues. While the intent is there, Malta will need to sort out regulations for international export before they can be seen as regional heavyweights,” Ms Curley underscores.

“The Maltese regulations have been designed to ensure that standards are maintained, […however,] Malta will need to sort out regulations for international export before they can be seen as regional heavyweights,”

Alexandra Curley, Head of Insights at Prohibition Partners.

The paradigm shift has been quite fast in the past years; the legalisation of cannabis for medical use and decriminalisation of possession in small amounts for recreational use is a long way travelled. However, how likely could Malta open up for legalised and controlled recreational cannabis use, similarly to Canada and some states in the US?

“It is not unfeasible that this would be the case. When you examine other legal markets around the world, recreational cannabis can follow the legalisation of medicinal cannabis or the decriminalisation of cannabis for personal use. It might not be in the next one or two years, but, it could happen in the mid-term. We would expect to see something of a snowball effect as other European countries start to legalise or decriminalise cannabis for recreational purposes,” Ms Curley says.

“Cannabis has already been decriminalised in Malta (2015) which means that possession is not a criminal offence, but there is still a long way to go to creating a regulated legal market. That said, Malta has been going through something of a renaissance of late, with the legalisation of same-sex marriage (2017) and updates to laws on IVF (2018). It is not out of the question that liberal political attitudes will also influence cannabis legislation too,” she concludes.

The post Malta’s progressive approach boosts its medical cannabis potential first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“We have been very selective in our evaluation of companies, who need to show rigorous processes and strict regulations. Our goal is to be at the forefront of the research and production of medical cannabis, and we believe businesses like Avana will help us achieve this in Malta,” says Mario Galea, Chief Executive of Malta Enterprise.

Avana expects to use this facility as a medical cannabis processing hub, where it will import cannabis flower into Malta and process the flower into medical products for distribution to other European markets.

“The European market is one of the largest opportunities in the nascent global medical cannabis industry. Our familiarity in establishing and working within GMP compliant production facilities will lead to an efficient facility roll-out in Malta,” says Zubin Jasavala, Chief Executive Officer of Avana. “Our experience operating CannaWay Clinics and our formulation partnership with Covar Pharmaceuticals is guiding product development which we are excited to bring to Malta and the broader European market in 2020.”

In the upcoming months, Avana will work to commence construction of the facility in Malta. Avana will be participating in the Medical Cannabis World Forum held in Malta in November 2019, where Jasavala will be speaking to Avana’s experience in the Canadian medical markets in both production and distribution to-date, according to the press statement.

Avana is a family of cannabis brands and businesses positioned for growth domestically and in global medical markets. Avana derives market insights through its subsidiary CannaWay Clinic.

EDITORIAL NOTE: Since this story was published, Avana has rebranded as Mera, and quite recently has maintained an elevated focus on its expansion into Malta.

The post Avana and Malta Enterprise sign LoI for medical cannabis licence first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Supreme Cannabis says it believes that Malta is “strategically located to serve export markets throughout Europe”. Should the company receive the license, it would allow the firm to produce and process cannabis for medical use within Malta, and to export cannabis for medical use to certain international markets.

The company intends to manufacture products containing EU GMP quality cannabis oil and pursue regulated medical cannabis distribution opportunities in the European Union.

“We’re pleased to announce that we have secured a letter of intent from Malta Enterprises, taking another step forward in our global growth strategy. Malta is not only a strategic hub for Europe, but it is also home to robust existing pharmaceutical and nutraceutical manufacturing industries with a deep pool of expertise,” said Navdeep Dhaliwal, CEO of The Supreme Cannabis Company.

“Using the intellectual property and expertise we’ve gained in Canada, we intend to deliver high-quality cannabis products to medical patients in multiple international markets,” the CEO added.

The Supreme Cannabis Company is a Canadian publicly traded company committed to providing premium brands and products. The Company’s portfolio includes its wholly-owned subsidiary and multi-award-winning brand, 7ACRES, which is a federally licensed producer of cannabis operating inside a 440,000-square-foot facility in Kincardine, Ontario.

The post Supreme Cannabis signs letter of intent with Malta Enterprises first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The letter of intent was granted to EMMAC under terms of the Production of Cannabis for Medicinal Use Act, 2018, Chapter 578 of the Laws of Malta. The letter of intent is preliminary approval for the issuance of a full license — covering cultivation, production, importation and exportation — under the terms of the Production of Cannabis for Medicinal Use Act, 2018, according to the press statement.

EMMAC aims the turnkey GMP facility in Malta to be the group’s importation, exportation, testing and distribution hub for Europe and other international markets.

“We are delighted to have had such strong support from the Maltese Government and relevant public and regulatory authorities,” says Antonio Costanzo, CEO of EMMAC. “As the demand for premium quality medical cannabis continues to grow, our facility in Malta will form a critical part of EMMAC’s unique European infrastructure as our group import and distribution hub,” Mr Constanzo adds.

European medical cannabis company EMMAC Life Sciences Plc says it is committed to working to join together the latest science and research with cutting-edge cultivation, extraction and production. The firm has supply and distribution partnerships throughout Europe.

The post Malta Enterprise signs letter of intent with cannabis firm EMMAC first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

GCAN is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development and commercialisation of innovative delivery systems for the cannabis market. iCAN is an Israeli developer of cannabis-based formulations, clinical trials and cannabis testing.

The eluting patch platform is an “innovative delivery system, which uses a patented mucoadhesive and multilayered orally dissolving thin film to deliver a precise dose of cannabinoids into the body through the buccal mucosa,” the press release says. Clinical studies, funded in part by the US-based National Institutes of Health (NIH), have shown the delivery system’s capability in achieving higher bioavailability in the body using lower and controlled, dosing when compared to other routes of administration, according to the press release.

The agreement with iCAN will include commercial-ready formulations to meet medical and recreational market demands. Distribution and marketing rights for iCAN will consist of Malta, along with another list of countries — Israel, Australia, South Africa, Netherlands, South Africa, Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Macedonia, and Portuguese territories.

Focusing globally on the cannabis ecosystem, iCAN operates a global platform for distribution of such products through its iCAN Serve unit and works with a portfolio of like-minded companies, including but not limited to CannRx, CMTREX, CannaTech and endoCRO.

“I am very excited about the prospect of offering GCAN’s products through our many distribution channels,” says Saul Kaye, CEO of iCAN. “I have seen many groundbreaking innovations come through our CannaTech conferences, and the eluting patch technology was a platform I was particularly impressed with. I believe this technology can redefine how consumers think about cannabis. From the lower-dosage form to the controlled and slow-release mechanisms, and the ability to use it anywhere, I believe the product will resonate really well with consumers and generate rapid traction in the markets we intend to bring it to,” he adds.

“I am pleased to announce our partnership with iCAN,” says Aitan Zacharin, CEO of GCAN. “Saul [Kaye, iCAN CEO] is an industry leader who is at the forefront of everything tech in cannabis. His desire to partner with us is a testament to the strength of our technology and its capabilities. We are excited to establish this important partnership in the medical and adult-use cannabis industry. We are focused on transactions that will accelerate the commercialisation of our products, and the iCAN deal does that globally. iCAN shares our enthusiasm for seeing healthier, standardised, pharmaceutical-grade, and more cost-effective cannabis products introduced into the market. We look forward to working with iCAN to bring our cutting-edge technology to consumers worldwide,” he adds.

Cannabis in Malta

Views on cannabis have been transforming globally in recent years. Many countries have made measures of decriminalisation, allowing medical usage and some even legalising recreational usage to a certain extent. Malta has already made steps towards decriminalisation and medical usage, in 2015 and 2018, respectively.

New policies were introduced in 2015 in Malta to decriminalise cannabis, though simple possession is still considered as an “arrestable offence”, according to press reports. People caught with quantities smaller than 3.5g of cannabis are subject to fines ranging between €50 and €100, but they do not need to appear in court but before a Justice Commissioner. However, the police is allowed to detain people caught with small quantities for up to 48 hours to interrogate them for information to fight drug trafficking.

The Maltese legislation is more lenient towards cannabis than any other drugs. An individual caught possessing small quantities of drugs other than cannabis for the second time in two years will need to appear before the Drug Offenders Rehabilitation Board and attend due rehabilitation. However, in the case of cannabis, offenders are exempted from appearing before the board, regardless of how many times they are caught.

At the same time, pressure had appeared to be growing in terms of the medical use of cannabis. Although the 2015 reform partially legalised medical cannabis as a last resort solution for patients suffering from chronic pain, news reports suggested only a few patients had been treated in practice due to a stock shortage of such products, as well as hiking prices of the ones available on shelves, according to a report by Malta Today.

In 2018, Malta officially legalised medical cannabis. After its third and final reading, amendments to the Drug Dependence Act were enacted by Parliament on the 26th of March. The law allows family doctors to prescribe non-smoking forms of medicine available at pharmacies for patients, after the Superintendent of Public Health has approved of a control card, according to another report by Malta Today.

The post Global cannabis firms ink letter of intent on distribution first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.