Rua Signs Supply Agreement, Targets Poland and Czechia
Rua Bioscience today announced it has signed a five-year master supply agreement with Motagon to supply medicinal cannabis products to Central and Eastern European countries. Critically, the agreement gives Rua access to the emerging medicinal cannabis markets of Czechia and Poland.
Rua’s immediate focus will be on entering the Polish market, which is described as one of the largest and fastest-growing markets in Europe. By the close of 2023, the Polish medicinal cannabis market is expected to be worth NZ$92m based on previous proprietary forecasts. With no domestic cultivation, it is a major importer of dried flower.
Chief Commercial Officer, Paul Naske, who is currently in Europe for business development says the agreement is critical in the context of Rua’s export strategy and will see Rua become an early mover in the challenging and potentially lucrative Polish medicinal cannabis industry.
“The Polish regulations are notoriously complex and exhaustive but we have a world-class regulatory team across this and we’re hitting the ground running. Rua has now submitted all regulatory information to Motagon who will, in turn, manage submissions to the Polish regulator for product approval.
“The product approval process is expected to take 12 months and sustainable revenue from the signed agreements is around 18 months away. However, once complete, we expected to be one of only a few companies with access to this market,” he says.
Mr Naske, says this milestone is a tribute to the foresight of successive members of Rua’s commercial team and demonstrates the consistency of Rua’s export strategy.
The Polish medicinal cannabis market was established in 2017 and in recent years has consistently displayed double-digit growth. Though in some instances Polish medicinal cannabis patients have their prescriptions funded by Statutory Health Insurance, Poland is largely a private payers market.
Rua will also advance plans for the Czech market. Czechia is one of the most progressive medicinal cannabis markets in Europe. It has seen steady growth over the last five years, largely thanks to a comprehensive public reimbursement programme whereby up to 90% of medical cannabis costs are covered by the Government.
In Czechia, doctors with a specialist qualification in areas such as oncology, neurology, and geriatrics can prescribe medicinal cannabis for specific indications. 87% of the prescriptions issued here are for chronic pain(1).
Because the domestic supply chain is relatively immature, Czechia holds a lot of promise for exporters. Recent reports suggest the Czech market will be worth NZ$8.4m and have grown to 7,000 patients by the end of 2023.
The company will update the market as it makes progress in both markets.