Medical hashish cultivator Glass Pharms has formally delivered its first crop to the primary UK-based clinic, marking the primary time since medical hashish was legalised that domestically grown product has been made obtainable to sufferers.
The launch of UK-grown medical hashish marks a big milestone within the growth of the market, which has lengthy been hamstrung by its reliance on imported merchandise and its influence on provide chains.
One of many first clinics set to start distributing the primary ‘Made in Britain’ stamped medical hashish is Releaf, although Glass Pharms is known to be sending its product to numerous UK clients.
“Our partnership with Glass Pharms represents a brand new period in medical hashish for the UK,” mentioned Tim Kirby, Managing Director of Releaf.
“By providing regionally grown, sustainable hashish medicine, we’re not solely assembly a big unmet want within the healthcare business and bettering affected person entry, but additionally lowering our environmental influence and supporting home business.”
Home Provide
By way of its strategic partnership with Glass Pharms, Releaf will now supply a variety of its own-branded medical hashish flower merchandise via its platform.
Glass Pharms has lengthy made its ambition to produce the home market clear, telling Enterprise of Hashish earlier this 12 months that the UK was its preliminary goal market, particularly ‘fixing for out-of-stock points’ for UK sufferers.
“We consider that if that provide chain is changed, and sufferers have the expertise of having the ability to obtain a dependable, repeatable, standardised medication that works, that removes one of many key items of friction from the business itself,” it mentioned.
To realize this, Glass Pharms says it has developed a ‘steady manufacturing mannequin’, which is able to harvest ‘each week of the 12 months’, considerably shortening the provision chain and permitting the corporate to offer recent flowers with ‘exacting requirements’ of terpene and cannabinoid profiles.
Mr Kirby advised Enterprise of Hashish: “I didn’t realise, as we launched into this journey in February, simply how damaged the provision chain was. These closed-loop ecosystems simply don’t assist any enterprise at scale.
“It was sort of this serendipitous second. We refunded £40,000 final month to sufferers as a result of we didn’t meet our constitution when it comes to well timed supply. We mentioned we’d ship inside seven days, however that didn’t occur.
“After which precisely the identical time I met James and Mark at Glass Pharms, they usually had an analogous view to me as to the basis reason behind the stagnation of the UK, they usually had been simply actually about to have their first harvest.”
He continued that Releaf agreed to purchase ‘as a lot of their first manufacturing as attainable’, and located a associate to deal with the shop, end and bundle Glass Pharms’ product into Releaf-branded medical hashish flower.
“Not solely have we form of secured the ecosystem when it comes to provide, however now we have flattened the provision chain when it comes to the way you get it in entrance of the affected person.”
The pair have reportedly agreed to a 12-month contract, which is able to see Glass Pharms utilise its steady development cycle to successfully domesticate to Releaf’s forecast ‘for 16 weeks out’.
Glass Pharms CEO, James Duckenfield, added: “Sufferers will now have a safety of provide that was beforehand lacking from a market that beforehand relied on imports. The power for clinicians to put in writing repeat prescriptions of the identical product was beforehand hit or miss attributable to provide chain issues. Our steady harvesting mannequin will assist convey an finish of the out-of-stock points which have set again the event of this promising therapeutic space within the UK.
“We’re completely satisfied that Releaf is our first buyer to convey our flower to market. They’ve a powerful give attention to affected person expertise with a wonderful proprietary expertise platform to allow it. The mixed providing is nice information for sufferers, notably those that care in regards to the atmosphere.”
UK Provide Chain
As famous in Prohibition Companions’ European Hashish Report: ninth Version, the UK’s medical hashish market is now the second largest in Europe, and is the core driver of development within the area.
Regardless of this development, and unusually excessive consumption from UK sufferers, its provide chain and importation hurdles proceed to restrain its potential.
The importation course of for completed medical hashish merchandise can be expensive and extremely bureaucratic. Merchandise can solely be imported on the idea of letters of ‘medical want’ from medical doctors, which element the particular product necessities (i.e. particular portions of particular named merchandise), and just for a interval of three months.
This course of ends in greater prices to sufferers for merchandise, and decrease consistency and availability of the product provide.
To fulfill the rising demand, clinics have labored round these points by importing intermediate merchandise as an alternative of completed merchandise, opting to carry out the ultimate manufacturing steps throughout the UK.
This permits them to import medical hashish categorized as a Schedule I Uncooked Materials, which is cheaper and simpler to convey into the nation than a Schedule II Completed Product.
