Medical Marijuana Milestone In The UK: Celadon Pharmaceuticals Becomes First Company With License To Sell In Britain

Celadon Pharmaceuticals has become the first UK-based medical cannabis manufacturer to be granted a Home Office license to sell its products in the UK. 

The London-listed company can now pursue supply deals to sell its cannabis oil to specialized private clinics permitted to prescribe medical marijuana (MMJ). They can also provide MMJ to universities and pharmaceutical companies that are conducting research and development, reported the Financial Times. 

Until now, Celadon was only authorized to cultivate cannabis and manufacture tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) oil under its Home Office license. But on Tuesday, the British Home Office updated Celadon’s license, which enables the company to begin MMJ sales. The move came after the 100,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in Birmingham was granted a Good Manufacturing Practice registration by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in January 2023. 

“It’s a heck of a milestone,” said James Short, Celadon’s CEO. “But after four years and tens of millions [of pounds] of investment . . . we’ve done it.” 

Celadon, founded in 2018, expects to generate handsome revenues by the end of the year and achieve positive earnings. 

Shares in Celadon, which is listed on London’s junior Aim market, jumped by at least 25% on Tuesday afternoon following the announcement. 

Short said that Celadon’s manufacturing plant, which employs 34 people, can currently cultivate about 3 tons of cannabis flower a year, but once manufacturing is ramped up the facility will be able to process closer to 10 tons annually, generating potential revenues of up to $110 million, calculated the outlet. 

The only route thus far to legally sell cannabis products in the UK was to get approval following clinical trials by the MHRA.  

British manufacturer GW Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals JAZZ for $7.2 billion in May 2021, was the first company to get its ​​cannabis-derived medicine prescribed on the NHS in 2018. 

But now...“The UK is now open for business,” said Short, who described medical cannabis oil as “liquid gold."

The Department of Health and Social Care estimates that there are as many as 3 million chronic pain sufferers who could be eligible for MMJ. 

Short said that approval of a UK-based supplier will ease the supply bottlenecks as cannabis oil would no longer have to be imported.

“You can only import on a named patient, so you can only import enough product for that patient’s prescription,” Short said. “Now, we can get a prescription today and within 24 hours we can supply to that patient.”