Dalgety has become one of two leading medical cannabis cultivators in the UK to be granted a Home Office licence to supply in the UK alongside a full EU-GMP certification.
The 30,000 sq ft facility in the Midlands has been granted its Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) licence by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) after a rigorous application and inspection process.
This involved conducting more than 600 quality control tests across eight different medical cannabis batches to prove consistency of product.
In addition, Dalgety has secured an upgrade to its Home Office licence allowing the rapidly expanding business to begin selling its specially cultivated and manufactured products in the UK.
James Leavesley, chief executive at Dalgety, said: “This upgrade to our licence is a huge accomplishment for the Dalgety team, and more importantly, means we can deliver UK grown products to UK patients, an ambition we have been striving towards since founding the business five years ago.
“We are one of just two EU-GMP cultivators that now have this rare privilege, and with that comes a responsibility to deliver on our commitments to the UK medical cannabis community and help improve patient lives. It also showcases the strength of our business operation and what we’re capable of. We’re here, and we’re ready.”
The UK medical cannabis market is forecast to reach more than £1bn by 2026, helping boost economic growth in the UK.
The licence upgrade allows Dalgety to cultivate, manufacture and now supply EU-GMP grade high THC-medicinal cannabis from its controlled facility into the UK pharmaceutical market. The product will be packaged and distributed through its supply partner, Grow Pharma, which was announced last year, and then made available to patients via a medical prescription from a licensed doctor.
Pierre Van Weperen, CEO at Grow Pharma, said: “The securing of this licence upgrade is a milestone moment for Dalgety and we are so pleased for James and the team. With this in mind, we are excited for supply to begin and are looking forward to continuing to build our partnership and bring Dalgety products to our clinics, doctors and patients in the UK.”
Dalgety recently launched a fresh round of investment, with plans to further advance its operations. The producer is seeking £6 million to expand, increasing the number of cultivation rooms in its existing facility to deliver five times the annual volume of product and subsequent revenue. There is space within the existing licensed area to expand the facility by 40 times, so Dalgety can continue to meet the rising market demand throughout Europe in the coming years.
James said: “This is an incredible step forward not only for Dalgety but for the UK medical cannabis industry as a whole. It will be good to see more cultivators achieve this licence in the future, to help support the growing need for a high quality and reliable source of medical cannabis. This will help remove any supply chain obstructions that non-UK producers are currently facing.”
Medicinal cannabis products were legalised in the UK in 2018, making them available on prescription, commonly via private doctors and specialist pain clinics. Currently, the UK imports the majority of its cannabis-based medicines but with new UK licences coming online, patients, doctors and regulators have a greater level of trust and traceability of where their cannabis medication are being sourced.
