Neumarkt | Smiths Falls, Canada, 2 May 2019. Effective 1 May 2019, Bionorica SE has sold its cannabis business to Canopy Growth Corporation, a world-leading diversified cannabis and hemp company based in Smiths Falls, Canada and with operations in 13 countries across five continents. The selling price amounts to 225.9 million euros. The existing facilities in Neumarkt, Frankfurt and Vienna will continue to operate. The strategic goal is to quickly and consistently develop and expand the international markets to meet the needs of a steadily growing number of patients. Bionorica SE will support Canopy Growth in this regard in future. Both parties see great opportunities in the further clinical research of the cannabis plant and its constituents. To this end, Bionorica SE and Canopy Growth have agreed to collaborate in long-term research.
The shared fundamental understanding of an evidence-based cannabinoid medicine and intensively developing it to the highest pharmaceutical standard is the crucial factor in this collaboration. For Professor Michael A. Popp, owner and CEO of Bionorica SE, the research partnership with Canopy Growth provides an opportunity to continue to pursue his vision. The aim is to develop a wide range of new therapies for critically ill patients on the basis of a broad clinical research programme. “On the one hand, Canopy Growth, one of the most dynamic companies in the industry worldwide, will expand on what we have achieved in a congenial manner. On the other hand, we will use the resulting injection of funds to develop at full speed our successful and clearly focused core business,” says Professor Popp.
“It was very important to us to find a buyer who shares our commitment to developing evidence-based cannabinoid medicine and meets the requirements for the associated sustainable research strategy, because this is one of the core promises of our brand.”
“What this boils down to is greater choice,” said Bruce Linton, Chairman & Co-CEO, Canopy Growth. “This acquisition will allow us to offer more options to physicians across Europe, accelerate our commercial sales and increase our economic footprint on the continent, and drive forward new innovations. Our goal is to build on Bionorica’s extraordinary reputation and decades of success as we move to an innovative continuum of medical cannabis therapies that will enable physicians globally to better treat their patients.”