Major cannabis companies already are fiercely competing amongst each other in international markets. After North America, Europe is considered to be the next most promising market, with countries like the U.K. and Germany leading the way in terms of consumer demand for marijuana.
Tilray (NASDAQ: TLRY) announced today that it had received a much-needed certification from the European Union, giving it the go-ahead to begin selling cannabis in the continent.
Tilray’s Portugal division received a standard manufacturing license and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification, an important regulatory hurdle needed to pass the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) standards for cannabis distribution.
Specifically, this license and certification would let Tilray sell to the medical cannabis markets Germany, other EU states, as well as non-EU jurisdictions that still recognize the significance of the GMP certification.
“This licensing and certification marks a critical milestone for our growth in Portugal and Europe. We’re proud to increase our international export capacity and are looking forward to exporting dried cannabis as active substances from our EU Campus to legal jurisdictions in the EU and other international markets,” said Sascha Mielcarek, Managing Director, Europe. “The next phase of GMP certification will allow us to utilize the full capacity of our multi-faceted facility and continue to serve more patients in-need.”
Tilray’s production facilities in Portugal total at nearly 250,000 square feet while also serving as the hub of all clinical research done by the company in Europe.
Tilray was also the first medical cannabis producer to successful import medical marijuana into EU as well as the first producer in North America to obtain a GMP certification.
Tilray made news earlier this month when it’s CEO, Brendan Kennedy, went on to say that marijuana companies have been lying about their production output, albeit somewhat indirectly.
As Tilray continues to struggle to source high-quality cannabis, the chief executive went on to cast the blame on how industry experts used new metrics to predict future production capabilities. One of these metrics, called “funded capacity,” indicated how much a company can grow without needed more capital.
The reality of the situation, however, was that much of these metrics were based on theoretical figures instead of real-life experience.
Shares of Tilray ended Thursday’s trading session down 3.2 percent despite the good news from the company. Unlike many other cannabis companies which surged in Q1 2019, Tilray’s stock has plummeted over the past six months, failing to recover much in the first quarter.
Back in November, shares were trading around $120, a price that many analysts considered to be far too high for the company. Since then, Tilray’s stock has plummeted to its current price level at $44.79 per share, a far more reasonable price for the company.
Tilray Company Profile
Tilray Inc is engaged in the sale and development of medical cannabis. Geographically, the company derives the majority of its revenue from Canada.
The product categories of the company include dried cannabis which includes whole flower and ground flower, and cannabis extract which include full spectrum and purified oil drops and capsules. – Warrior Trading News
