Israel’s biggest medical cannabis company is continuing its streak of supply deals with Canada’s largest weed firms.
On Tuesday, Aprhia Inc. (TSX: APHA) said it entered an agreement to provide Canndoc, a subsidiary of InterCure Ltd. (TASE: INCR), with dried bulk flower for up to seven years.
In the first two years of the deal, the Ontario-based company will supply Canndoc with 3,000 kilograms of cannabis, with options for a couple more two-year terms and an additional year if both parties agree.
“We are excited about our strategic partnership with Canndoc, a well-established Israeli leader, and the opportunity to continue to expand our medical cannabis brand internationally,” CEO Irwin Simon said in a statement.
While cannabis research for medical use has been legal in Israel since 1973, its government only recently approved the export of medical cannabis in early 2019.
The country continues to offer promise for Canadian producers searching for international deals to offload supply from the over saturated Canadian market.
Since the start of 2020, Canndoc has signed supply agreements with Tilray Inc. (Nasdaq: TLRY), Organigram Inc. (TSX: OGI) and Hexo Corp. (TSX: HEXO). The largest of all four deals is with Organigram, which said in June it would supply 3,000 kilograms of dried flower by the end of 2021 to Canndoc.
Read more: Hexo makes first international medical weed shipment to Israel
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak now sits on Canndoc board as chair. Press photo
Aphria said it could also possibly partner with Canndoc on research initiatives such as clinical trials on the use of medical cannabis with Israeli research institutions and potentially within the European Union.
The Canadian firm noted that Canndoc has been taking a pharmaceutical approach to cannabis for 13 years and has signed a distribution deal with Super-Pharm, Israel’s largest drugstore chain.
The Israeli government recently committed to legalizing recreational weed with a new legalization bill getting approved by a committee in June, passing its first hurdle on the way to becoming law.
The bill would legalize possession and consumption of up to 15 grams by individuals age 21 and older.
Read more: Israel announces plan to legalize weed
Aphria said with its pharmaceutical business in Germany, and the new Israeli deal, the company is now in the two largest medical cannabis markets outside of Canada and the U.S. Israel is one of the largest importers of medical cannabis in the world, Aphria added.
Top photo of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem by Berthold Werner via Wikimedia Commons
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