Medical cannabis opportunity gathers momentum in Europe

Witnessing massive growth in North America, markets in Europe and the UK are welcoming the inflow of the so-called “pot stocks” — listed companies in the cannabis industry. There is particular attention to projects focusing on cannabis-based healthcare products, as more countries relax medical cannabis regulations.

Reports from Bloomberg evidence that cannabis medical companies have started contacting lawyers and investment firms, showing significant interest in listing in European markets, including the UK. In November 2018, the UK government gave the go-ahead for specialist doctors to start prescribing cannabis-based medicines. The move prompted the opening of the UK’s first cannabis clinic in the Greater Manchester area earlier in March, offering treatments for patients suffering from chronic pain and other severe neurological or psychiatric conditions.

Research from Prohibition Partners and the Davos World Economic Forum pointed that Europe’s medical cannabis market could double in size in 2019, and numbers show that Europe’s cannabis market could be worth up to €123bn by 2028.

The market excitement follows a wave of regulations that are allowing the advance of legal cannabis across the continent. Last year, apart from the UK, Portugal and Malta had also legalised medical cannabis products.

At the moment, the most prominent marijuana company is London’s Sativa Investments Plc at about 26.8 million pounds ($33.6 million) on the NEX Exchange, but this scenario is set to change throughout 2019. Newspapers in London have recently reported that Jacana, which grows medical-use cannabis in Jamaica, is considering a stock market float on city’s AIM later this year. Other companies showing plans to list are European Cannabis Holdings and Emmac Life Sciences.

Companies in continental Europe are signalling to make an early move into the cannabis scene, says Bloomberg. Paris-based Gour Medical AG, which plans to produce medical cannabis products for animals; StenoCare A/S from Denmark and Dermapharm Holding SE from Germany both focusing on medical and pharmaceutical cannabis applications.

Indeed, there is an opportunity in there: in Germany, around 40,000 patients are already taking prescription drugs based on cannabis, which amounted to more than 30 Million EUR revenues in the first half of 2018 — making the country feature among the three largest medical cannabis markets in Europe, along with the Netherlands and Italy.