Materia Ventures Enters German Cannabis Market With Cannaktiv Acquisition

Materia Ventures has acquired Cannaktiv GmbH, a licensed importer and distributor of medical marijuana products in Germany.

The company will be re-named Materia Deutschland GmbH.

Materia did not disclose the value of the transaction, but its CEO Deepak Anand told Benzinga in an email that Cannaktiv is “1 of only 30 companies that have the relevant licenses to be able to import, stock and sell medical cannabis in Germany."

Anand said this move provides Materia with immediate access to one of Europe’s largest cannabis markets, with a platform to import EU-GMP certified products.

“We now have direct control over the most critical components of the European cannabis supply chain,” he said. “Today, only a small group of producers supply flower and oils into Germany and distributors continue to face challenges in sourcing a consistent supply of high-quality products for patients. Leveraging our manufacturing capabilities in Malta, our ability to import and distribute a suite of products across different strengths and formats, and the direct relationships we are building with pharmacies and patients, Materia is ideally positioned to establish a significant presence in Germany.”

Germany’s current medical cannabis framework was introduced in March 2017. With a population of over 83 million people and broad public health insurance coverage, Germany is one of the largest and fastest growing medical cannabis markets in Europe –and poised to become one of the largest federally regulated medical cannabis markets in the world.

According to data from the German National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds, public reimbursements of medical cannabis in 2019 reached €123 million ($133 million), an increase of 67% from 2018. The association also reported the number of prescriptions processed by pharmacies exceeded 267,000 in 2019, up 44% when compared to 2018.

In addition, there is an estimated 20-25% of all cannabis patients who do not get their benefits reimbursed by the statutory health insurance companies. Marijuana Business Daily estimates adding these private prescriptions would value the German market at over €170 million in 2019.

Español: El Mercado Alemán de Cannabis Podría Alcanzar los USD$18 Mil Millones para el 2028