Panaxia Global on Thursday announced that it has obtained a production licence from the Maltese health authorities that allows it to start exporting and marketing finished medical cannabis products in European standard from Malta.

Panaxia Global is an international pharma company that develops, manufactures, and markets advanced medical cannabis products of pharmaceutical quality, and is the controlling owner of Panaxia Malta (Operations) Ltd.

Following the adaptation of the EU-GMP standard for the facility in January by the European Health Authority, production in Malta will allow for immediate exportation and marketing of the company’s finished products in accordance with the standards accepted by the European Authorities.

The licence also allows for the export to countries that require registration of the advanced products, such as tablets and inhalation materials, in the country of origin as finished products.

The immediate largest markets for Panaxia are Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, and Brazil.

Exports to the UK market and the Brazilian market currently cannot be made from Israel due to regulations governing the registration of such advanced products in Israel.

“Obtaining the licence will allow us to export our advanced medical cannabis products, such as the tablets and extracts for inhalation, from the facility in Malta, and market them in various European countries,” said Panaxia CEO Dadi Segal.

“We are excited to have reached this long-awaited moment as well as the fact that we will now be able to have our products accessible to many more patients all over Europe,” Dr Segal added.

The UK is one of the most promising markets in Europe, with around 1.4 million patients who can have access to medical cannabis.

Estimates by Prohibition Partners in 2021 indicate that 23,466 medical cannabis products were issued in the UK to patients in the private market, a significant rise from 2019’s 278 products.

Panaxia remains the first and only company that exports and markets inhaled medical cannabis extracts in Germany, with the company’s premium oils also being regularly marketed in Germany and Cyprus.

Malta Enterprise, Malta’s Economic Development Agency, assisted and accompanied Panaxia in the stages of its establishment in Malta until the licence was obtained.

Commenting on the announcement, Malta Enterprise CEO Kurt Farrugia said: “Panaxia is one of the first companies to obtain a letter of intent (LOI) from Malta Enterprise, in order to be able to operate in the Medical Cannabis Sector.”

“Together we embarked on a steep learning curve that saw us reaching this very important moment for Panaxia,” he added.

“Through such accomplishments, Malta is confirming its emergence as a hub for manufacturing and research in the Cannabis ecosystem,” Mr Farrugia remarked.

Panaxia Labs Israel Ltd, which is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and Panaxia Malta (Operations) Ltd are subsidiaries of Panaxia Global, with both of them having EU-GMP European production standard from the EU Health Authority.

Panaxia Israel was formed in 2010 as the cannabis division of the Segal Pharma Group that has been operating for more than four decades, producing more than 600 different pharmaceutical products while also marketing them in over 40 countries.