Somaí Pharmaceuticals

Somaí Pharmaceuticals is one of the most discreet and active cannabis companies on the European market. Based in Lisbon since 2019, it manufactures EU-GMP-certified cannabinoid extracts and distributes them in over fifteen countries on four continents, including Germany, Australia, the UK, Ireland and Thailand.

Michael Sassano: from Wall Street to Lisbon

Michael Sassano is an American whose career path has taken him through Wall Street, real estate and technology investments before ending up in pharmaceutical cannabis. Fascinated by the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids and Portugal's favorable regulations for the production of medical cannabis for export, he founded Somaí Pharmaceuticals in Lisbon in 2018.

Portugal was a strategic choice: the country will legalize the production of medical cannabis for export in 2019, and boasts an ideal climate and a skilled workforce. Somaí built an EU-GMP-certified indoor production and cultivation facility there, and obtained a 2.7 million euro subsidy from the Portugal 2020 program.

An MCO model and a range of pharmaceutical extracts

Somaí is positioned as a European Multi-Country Operator (MCO), not in the sense of multi-state dispensaries, but of commercial presence in multiple markets with products adapted to local regulations.

Its specialty: EU-GMP pharmaceutical cannabinoid extracts in oils, oral sprays and capsules, with standardized terpene and cannabinoid profiles. The range is among the widest on the European medical market. Its main markets are Germany and Australia, where pharmaceutical demand is strongest.

In 2024, Somaí formed a partnership with Cookies, the Californian brand of Berner, to transform Cookies genetics into EU-GMP-certified pharmaceutical extracts for the world's medical markets. It's an unprecedented bridge between American lifestyle culture and European pharmaceutical rigor.

In 2025, Somaí celebrates its 7th anniversary and continues to expand its presence in Ireland, Poland, Switzerland and Thailand. Its Origins platform offers extracts with genetically identifiable cannabinoid and terpene profiles.