First EU-GMP cannabis production facility in Macedonia

Warsaw-based PharmaCann Polska will be able to offer cannabis extracts from its production in Northern Macedonia. The company is the first in the country to be awarded the EU-Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certificates to produce medical cannabis extracts. The GMP certificates were issued in March by Poland's Chief Inspectorate of Pharmaceuticals, after the Polish authorities inspected PharmaCann's Macedonian subsidiary in December 2019.

The medical cannabis was legalized in Macedonia in 2016. Unlike most European Union countries, production is not held by a state monopoly, which has attracted the interest of many cannabis companies.

Macedonian products could break medical cannabis prices, particularly on the German market, due to lower production costs. Producer PharmaCanna Polska is also aiming to supply the Polish market.

PharmaCann Polska CEO Zlatko Keskovski has declared à Marijuana Business Daily that the company planned to start selling directly to pharmacies using its own distribution assets in Germany by the end of September, while sales in Poland are expected by November.

In Poland, only a few flower varieties have been registered by Canadian producers Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth.

The Macedonian company has already shipped small quantities of products to Australia, Brazil, Croatia, Slovenia, South Africa and the UK, according to Keskovski.

Macedonian cannabis growers cannot export flowers, The situation is set to change. To this end, PharmaCann is finalizing a project involving a larger facility at another site in Northern Macedonia.

Dozens of cannabis production licenses were issued in Northern Macedonia, Most of them are not yet fully operational.