Aurora Cannabis (TSE: ACB)(NYSE: ACB) has been on a roll lately when it comes to international expansion. Today the company announced that they had begun shipping into the Mexican medical cannabis market.
The new exclusive partnership with Farmacias Magistrales S.A., one of Mexico’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors, would see Aurora’s marijuana exposed to over 80,000 retail locations and 500 pharmacies and hospitals throughout the country. This also marks the first and only import license the Mexican government has govern from Federal Commission for Protection Against Health Risks (COFEPRIS), Mexico’s governing body on medical cannabis regulation.
Farmacias has also acquired regulatory licenses from COFEPRIS to import, manufacture, and distribute CBD and THC related products. Mexico, which has a population of close to 130 million people and almost four times Canada’s population, is another international market that prime for expansion while not being as distant geographically.
“This new exclusive partnership further expands Aurora’s early mover advantage in Latin America, allowing us to become a leading player in the development of the medical cannabis system in Mexico, a legal market of 130 million people. We look forward to working with Farmacias, and leveraging its strong retail, pharmacy, and hospital networks to provide high-quality, medical grade cannabis to patients in this new and significant market,” said CEO Terry Booth. “We will also offer the Mexican government authorities whatever support they deem valuable, based on our insights and experience earned from operating in multiple nationally-legal medical cannabis systems around the world.”
Back on October 31st, the Mexican Supreme Court handed down two rulings that deemed the nations recreational marijuana prohibition laws to be unconstitutional, opening the door for private cannabis usage. The ruling went on to state that the court “found that adults have a fundamental right to personal development which lets them decide their recreational a activities without interference from the state.” As the fifth ruling, Mexico’s legal system applies the precedent across all of its lesser courts throughout the nation. However, while recreational use is now legal, commercialization or sale or said cannabis still remains in murky legal waters, leaving only the medical cannabis market open for international producers such as Aurora to capitalize upon.
As for Aurora, this announcement has been one of many over the past few weeks. Just yesterday the company announced that it also was also asked by Luxembourg’s government to act as an official supplier of medical cannabis to national facilities in another move to grow their access to the European market. In response to today’s news, however, Aurora shares climbed up an additional 7.8 percent, ending the week almost exactly where it began price wise.
Aurora Cannabis Inc Company Profile
Headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada with funded capacity in excess of 500,000 kg per annum and sales and operations in 22 countries across five continents, Aurora is one of the world’s largest and leading cannabis companies.
Aurora is vertically integrated and horizontally diversified across every key segment of the value chain, from facility engineering and design to cannabis breeding and genetics research, cannabis and hemp production, derivatives, high value-add product development, home cultivation, wholesale and retail distribution. –Aurora
