MJBizMag September 2020 - 70

AFFAIRS
FOREIGN
Companies have tried to register more
products. But as Marijuana Business
Daily recently reported, only eight of 63
applications were approved, and some
of those products were removed because
they could no longer be legally provided
in the country of origin, Canada.
During the first quarter of 2020,
27 packages of Aurora capsules-each
containing 100 units-were sold in
Denmark, in addition to about
9 kilograms of flower.
The revenue generated from flower
sales totaled almost $160,000, while the
capsules produced $4,400.
Total cannabis sales during the first
quarter of 2020 reached almost
$1.4 million, but that was largely
outside the pilot program. Most of that
revenue was generated through sales of
customized, or magistral, preparations
using pure THC or CBD-and, to a
lesser extent, finished pharmaceutical
medicines such as Sativex.
These represent preparations or
finished products that, for the most
part, have been available in Denmark
since before 2018 and are outside the
pilot program.
More than 5,500 patients received a
prescription for medical cannabis at least
once from January 2018 until March
2020, mostly for isolated cannabinoids.
About half the prescriptions were
written to treat neuropathic pain. Most
of the patients have been older than 40,
and women represent more than 60%
of patients.
Canadian producers exported roughly
89 gallons of medical cannabis oil
products to Denmark in 2019.
PERU
2019 Population: 32.5 million
2019 GDP: $226.8 billion
2020 Projected GDP (% Change):
-4.5%
Sources: World Bank and International
Monetary Fund
While most South American countries
have legalized medical cannabis in some
form, no nation has developed a viable
internal market. Except for Brazil-and,
to a lesser extent, Colombia-domestic
sales of medical cannabis in the region
were insignificant as of mid-2020.
But a positive scenario is evolving
that could make Peru the next Latin
American nation to offer entrepreneurs
real revenue opportunities.
As of late July, the Peruvian health
authority's public database showed
24 applications seeking approval for
cannabis products. As of July 26:
* Four were withdrawn by the
applicants.
* Three product registrations were
approved in recent months as a
" cannabis-derived natural health
product, " a category created by
Peruvian regulators. The first to
be approved belongs to Canopy
Growth in Canada. The other two,
registered by Peruvian CannFarma,
are for products to be exported from
Uruguay by Toronto-based Ramm
Pharma. They contain CBD as the
active ingredient.
* The remaining 17 product
registrations, submitted by six
companies, were pending approval.
Any product approvals would be in
addition to Sativex, manufactured by
GW Pharmaceuticals in the United
Kingdom and approved as a cannabisderived
pharmaceutical, although it has
not yet been commercialized, according
to local sources.
Moreover, Peru allows magistral
preparations that are customized to meet
individual patients' needs. The pharmacist
is expected to prepare the prescription
for each patient and is free to choose the
supplier of the necessary ingredients.
70 Marijuana Business Magazine | September 2020
As of July 2020, the only company to
announce it had the necessary permits
to start selling approved cannabis
products was Toronto-based Khiron
Life Sciences, a company with its main
operations in Colombia.
Khiron made an agreement with
Peruvian Farmacia Universal for
distribution, but as of mid-July, no
patients had access to the products.
Rather, the only cannabis product
available to patients in Peru was a CBD
medicine sold in just one pharmacy.
That product was bought by the
country's health authority through two
different supply tenders from Anden
Naturals, an Oregon-based supplier. The
10-mililliter bottles with 5% CBD sell at
retail for about $14.
Peruvian patients also have the option
to import nonregistered products
on a per-case basis. This option of
exceptional authorizations is often called
" compassionate use. "
So far, Peru has depended entirely
on imports, but its legislation allows
for domestic production. Many expect
that the country's regulators will begin
licensing production activities in the
second half of 2020.
MJBizMag September 2020

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