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 Portugal's California-like weather caught the eye of Canada-based
Tilray as its CEO Brendan Kennedy roved around Europe from 2015 to
2017 in search of the perfect spot for a new production site.
Kennedy said Portugal had the ideal climate for cannabis cultivation
and the country's young, educated workforce and its major
agricultural sector were further attractions.
Covering 2.4 hectares (5.9 acres) in a biotechnology park just
outside Cantanhede, Tilray's site was given the green light by
Portugal's regulator Infarmed in 2017. The company then rushed to
import its first baby plants and recently reported its first two
successful cannabis harvests.Kennedy opened the site to visitors for
the first time at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday.
"Some of our competitors are located in Denmark and northern
Germany, where there isn't that much sun - so we think we can
produce a more environmentally-friendly product here," he told
Reuters.
Portugal also offers tariff-free entry to the rest of the European
Union, a market Tilray wants to explore further at a time when an
increasing number of governments are legalising medical marijuana.
FROM PROHIBITION TO LEGALISATION
"The paradigm is shifting from prohibition to legalisation," Kennedy
said, with demand for the product growing. "I'm fairly optimistic
that over the next two years we will see every country in Europe
legalising it."
Last year Portugal's parliament approved a bill to legalise
marijuana-based medicines, following in the footsteps of EU
countries such as Italy and Germany as well as Canada and parts of
the United States. Britain made a similar move in July 2018.
Tilray's 20-million-euro ($22.29 million) facility includes indoor,
outdoor and greenhouse cultivation sites, as well as research labs,
processing, packaging and distribution sites for medical cannabis
and cannabinoid-derived products.
Tilray supplies medical cannabis products with CBD and THC to
patients in a number of countries, through subsidiaries in
Australia, Canada, Germany and Latin American, and through
agreements with pharmaceutical distributors.
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Earlier this year, the European Parliament called for an EU-wide
policy on medical cannabis and properly funded scientific research.
"We are at point where almost every doctor around the world
recognises the medical benefits of cannabis," Kennedy said.
The World Health Organization has stated that several studies have
demonstrated cannabinoids provide therapeutic effects for nausea and
vomiting in the advanced stages of illnesses such as cancer and
AIDS.
Moreover, a handful of regulated pharmaceuticals use chemicals
derived from cannabis, such as GW Pharmaceuticals' Sativex which is
approved for treating symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
BOOST EXPORTS
From Canada, where Tilray has six facilities, the company already
sells medical cannabis products to 13 countries. Portugal will help
Tilray boost exports further, Kennedy said.
"Our business plan for this facility is focused on exporting
products from Portugal to other countries around the world."
In Europe, Tilray products are already available in Germany,
Croatia, Cyprus and the Czech Republic but it expects to start
exporting to the United Kingdom - and potentially to France, Italy
and Greece - in the next 12 months.
Kennedy said Tilray hopes this summer to expand exports to countries
such as South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
According to analysis firm Prohibition Partners, the EU cannabis
market will be worth 123 billion euros by 2028.
Kennedy did not confirm how much medical marijuana Tilray plans to
produce.
($1 = 0.8973 euros)
(Reporting by Catarina Demony and Rafael Marchante; Editing by Mark
Heinrich)
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