Israeli Company Panaxia Pharmaceuticals Signs Deal With France
The Israelis are moving quickly to take advantage of the opening in the French medical cannabis market. Panaxia Pharmaceuticals has just announced a deal with Neuraxpharm, a leading European company specializing in disorders of the central nervous system. Their collaboration is intended to be a first step in establishing a manufacturing entity to commercial production and distribution of Panaxia’s cannabinoid medicinal products in France.
The model adopted for the collaboration is similar to those increasingly seen in Germany where foreign companies are partnering with established medical products providers in Europe to enter the market.
In the case of France, the companies are also clearly angling to be a medical provider for the national French medical trial, set to begin by the first quarter of March 2021. Indeed, as part of the first stages of their collaboration, Panaxia and Neuraxpharm are already planning on responding to the tender issued by the French government and medications agency ANSM, to regulate the country’s domestic cannabis market.
Panaxia is currently the only Israeli company with EU-GMP certification for the production of medical cannabis products.
The French Trial Is Looming – Will The German Mistakes Be Repeated?
While the French government is clearly copying the model of the German tender bid, it appears that some of the same mistakes will not be present here. Starting with not excluding Israeli firms.
However, given the same issues, not to mention tensions about legalization overall, which France now imports from other countries ringing it as well as the global marketplace, will this kind of alliance be the kind that inspires confidence in the market, if not effectively reaches patients beyond a 3,000 person trial now planned for spring?
The French trial, unlike the German one, expects participating companies to participate for free – rather than allowing companies to import products from another country and charging outrageous prices for the same before price controls had been set by the government, but insurance companies are still on the hook for payment.
Given Israel’s increasing global prominence in the medical market, this is a clear rebuke to Germany, where Canadian companies still dominate a market that is expanding and further requiring higher standards than those seen in other countries so far. And where repeated companies, no matter what country they hail from, have run into multiple and serial problems with quality control as well as a fully compliant supply chain.
The International Cannabis Business Conference is returning to Europe in 2021. Stay tuned!