Panaxia Labs Israel Ltd., Israel’s largest manufacturer of medical cannabis products, yesterday announced that the government of Cyprus has selected it to supply cannabis oils to patients in the country.
Dr. Dadi Segal, CEO of Panaxia Global, said, “We are proud to be collaborating with our neighbor, the government of Cyprus, which has selected us to provide medical cannabis products for patients throughout the country…The goodwill we gain from deals of this type will open doors in other countries as well and facilitate penetration of additional markets.”
Since 2017, the government of Cyprus has permitted the use of cannabis for medical purposes and has allowed patients to purchase medical cannabis products directly from pharmacies, subject to the presentation of a doctor’s prescription, following an approval by the Minister of Health. Medicinal cannabis was originally only prescribed for terminal cancer, but in 2019 the provision was expanded to include HIV, degenerative diseases of the motor system, rheumatism, neuropathy and glaucoma, Tourette’s syndrome, Crohn’s disease, and other chronic painful conditions.
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Pharmaceutical Cannabis) Regulations were approved in March of 2019 but have not yet been implemented, and patients have complained that medical cannabis is difficult to come by in Cyprus. The deal with Panaxia should solve this problem while Cyprus mobilizes to grow its own.