Infarmed publishes report on the evolution of medical cannabis activity in Portugal

O infarmed — Autoridade Nacional do Medicamento e Produtos de Saúde IP published an analysis of the activities carried out in the medical cannabis sector in Portugal in the last four years (until June 2022).

The document was first handed over to Cannareporter by Vasco Bettencourt, director of Infarmed Licensing Unit, and takes stock of the various aspects of the sector: licensing, exports, prescriptions and ACM requests, among others.

Entitled “Medical Cannabis — Evolution and Activity”, the document reveals the numbers that indicate that Portugal is a country where cannabis will continue to flourish. More than 100 companies have already started the licensing process.

In 2018, when the Portuguese Parliament approved cannabis for medicinal purposes, the cannabis industry had just taken its first steps in Portugal. Today, it is an industry that moves millions and the prospects seem to be for growth at all levels.

According to the report published by the Inspection and Licensing Directorate of Infarmed, to which Cannareporter had access today, first-hand, the Portuguese medical cannabis industry has been consolidating in Portugal and the number of licensed companies can more than to double in the coming years.

The report “Medical Cannabis — Evolution and Activity” takes stock of the evolution of activities related to the field of cannabis for medicinal purposes in Portugal, with data up to June 2022. The document describes the indicators relating to the number of entities and the global number of requests, as well as a grid with the quantification of documentary suitability decisions (pre-licence) and of authorizations issued (final license) for the exercise of cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, import, export or other purposes specific (such as research).

Key highlights of Infarmed's analysis include:

• number of licenses and pre-licenses assigned;
• global quantities exported and recipient countries;
• number of applications for Marketing Authorizations (ACM);
• number of packages prescribed in Portugal;
• response to requests for information.

Cannareporter will analyze the data from this study in more detail over the next few days. The full report can be viewed below.