Earlier this year, Greece became the latest EU country to make medical cannabis products available to patients.
In February 2024, Tikun Olam Europe, located in Greece, became the first company to offer finished medical cannabis products under prescription in the Greek market, and is poised to launch a string of new products in the coming months.
Tikun Olam Europe holds a strong heritage of Tikun Olam Israel which is largely responsible for defining the shape of this nascent market, aiming to ‘set a benchmark for the medical cannabis industry’ to evolve from.
According to the company’s CEO & Vice President of the Board, Nikos Beis, Greece ‘has created one of the most advanced medical cannabis programs in Europe’ and, with the potential to expand to meet the unmet need of thousands patients, is set to become an exciting new European cannabis hub for investors and businesses alike.
‘Hard work and persistence’
Greece was one of the earliest countries in the EU to move towards establishing a medical cannabis industry, rescheduling it from a Schedule A to a Schedule D substance in 2017.
It is evident that Greece’s 2017 declassification came without anything in terms of framework of legislation. It was only the following year that the government made a firm commitment to establishing a medical cannabis programme.
As Mr Beis explained to Business of Cannabis: “From the very beginning we were focused on our goal and although there was an unclear regulatory environment, we continued to invest to execute excellence.”
Tikun Olam Europe had already seen the opportunity and committed to investing in the region, breaking ground on the State-of-the-art EU-GMP facility in a premise of 56,000 sq. meters .
This continued investment and commitment to the highest quality standards to its operations was aimed at setting a high-water mark for the incoming industry to adhere to.
“We knew we had to build a state-of-the-art facility to set a benchmark for the medical cannabis industry, not only for Greece but also for Europe.
“It took a lot of hard work, persistence and dedication, as it was a very difficult path to undertake but it was worth every moment.
“Although the path was difficult, it drove us to where we are now and it has been a great success as it was received well by the market, authorities and healthcare professionals alike,” Mr Beis continued.
The Greek opportunity
As a potential destination for medical cannabis businesses, Greece now offers some significant advantages over its neighbours.
Not only there are lower land, labour and energy costs, but also its climate is naturally conducive to growing cannabis.
Its geographical location also makes it attractive for companies wishing to export to other countries, while it is also part of the European Medicine Agency (EMA), streamlining the potential international opportunities.
Furthermore, as Mr Beis explains: “Greece has invested considerably in developing its pharmaceutical industry in the last 20 years, we also enjoy the competitive advantage of having a large pool of highly skilled pharmaceutical experts.”
“Greece has created one of the most advanced medical cannabis programs in Europe and every medical cannabis product shall be classified as a finished pharmaceutical product and shall receive a Marketing Authorisation License by the Greek National Organisation for Medicines (EOF).
“Therefore, every product must undergo full registration requirements in exactly the same way that other pharmaceutical products are authorised, including providing product development data, analytical methods, process validation, stability risk testing and management plans.
“This method of authorisation provides healthcare professionals with the reassurance and confidence to prescribe finished medical cannabis products for specific approved indications, as they follow the same procedures they are comfortable with.”
The next step for the company, will be to complete the pipeline of the first products we want to register and launch in the market.
Elsewhere, the company is working to overcome one final hurdle, the education of prescribing doctors, aims to establish a model to ‘educate doctors, healthcare professionals and pharmacists that can be applied to various other countries with similar medical cannabis frameworks.’
