Bedrocan, one of Europe’s largest and longest-running suppliers of pharmaceutical and medical cannabis, has announced plans to commercialise a new high-CBD strain of cannabis, Bedrolina.
This launch will see the company significantly expand its operations in Denmark, launching a brand new indoor production facility in the country and beginning outdoor cultivation for the first time in its history.
Its expansion into Europe comes as the company also looks to expand its operations across the Atlantic, announcing that it is set to return to Canada for the first time since 2016, when it sold its operations to Canopy Growth.
Bedrocan’s Commercial Director, Varun Arora, told Business of Cannabis: “Essentially, we see ourselves as a contract manufacturing organisation (CMO), working with the Dutch government for over 20 years, and we now aim to offer similar services to the pharmaceutical industry.
“We have always specialised in growing standardised cannabis, and while there are many cultivators across Europe and elsewhere, we’ve been profitable for over 20 years, setting us apart.”
Bedrolina
Last month, Bedrocan announced plans to ‘commercialise’ Bedrolina, a strain of cannabis that contains around 14% CBD and less than 1% THC.
This is reportedly in response to growing demand for high-CBD strains of cannabis, with the majority currently on the market being grown in an open field, making it lower in CBD content and unsuitable for pharmaceutical purposes.
As such, Bedrocan has built a dedicated production facility in Denmark, which it expects to be operational by Q1 next year.
According to Mr Arora, basing its facility in Denmark will allow the company to operate without the intervention of its native Dutch government.
The Opium Act (Opiumwet) is the primary legislation in the Netherlands regulating the control and classification of narcotics.
While the Netherlands has allowed the production, prescription and sale of medical cannabis since 2003 by introducing exemptions to the Opium Act, medical cannabis is still considered a ‘List II’ substance and is tightly regulated.
Bedrocan has operated as a government-approved cannabis producer in the country for some time, supplying pharmaceutical-grade products to patients through pharmacies, but is now seeking to further expand its operations overseas.
“The government only allows us to produce five varieties under the framework agreement, without any amendments to product form. Essentially, we can only cultivate for one client: the Dutch government’s Office of Medicinal Cannabis. However, we are allowed to conduct R&D activities, such as exploring other strains and product forms, which is something we do at Bedrocan and other companies in the ecosystem,” Mr Arora explained.
Credit: Bedrocan
He continued that Bedrocan decided to look for a third high-CBD strain (the others being Bediol with a ratio of THC 6.3% and CBD 8% and Bedrolite with less than 1% THC and 7.5% CBD) for two reasons.
Primarily, finding a strain with high-CBD content is ‘incredibly difficult’, as raising the level of CBD often also raises the THC level.
“Most hemp, which stays below the 0.3% THC threshold, never tests above 4–5% CBD. After extensive work, we managed to stabilise a genetic variety that’s particularly attractive for extractors.”
For less potent strains such as Bedrolite, it requires ‘a lot of material’ to produce extracts.
“R&D on this new strain took a few years, and we stabilised it about two and a half years ago. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do much with it due to Dutch regulations. The main aim was to create a variety with a higher cannabinoid content to make extraction more efficient, compared to current processes, where most products are compounded in pharmacies.”
Denmark
Bedrocan’s products have been available in Denmark since 2018, when they were registered by CanGross Aps in the country’s inaugural medical cannabis pilot scheme, due to run until 2025.
The pilot programme allows all doctors in Denmark to prescribe without the need for specialisation, specific training, or special certification. Bedrocan via the OMC now offers three separate SKUs in the scheme, which are classed as ‘herbal teas’ and sold in 5g packages.
However, with the expansion of its foothold in the market, Bedrocan is hoping to benefit from greater freedoms allowed by the Danish regulatory system, enabling ‘more control over (its) operations’.
While Bedrocan has been able to consistently export between 3.4 and 3.8 tonnes (including 1.7 to 2.1 tonnes in Germany) of product from the Netherlands annually, supply chain bottlenecks and patchy control over imports mean the medical cannabis market is largely stunted.
“We were hoping for changes in Dutch policy, especially since 2020 when the government hired a consulting company to provide recommendations, which echoed what many in the industry have been saying for years.
“However, we decided we needed to take more control over our operations, and Denmark was an ideal option. It offers more regulatory freedom than the Netherlands, while still maintaining a tightly controlled regulatory regime, as it should be for a controlled substance. The regulatory regime in Denmark was appealing to us, and there were operational considerations as well.”
After beginning its search for a production site in 2022, choosing to build its own site in order to accommodate its exacting cultivation methods, the facility is now ‘close to being operational’, with the first products expected from the facility ‘around the end of Q1’ 2025.
“Denmark allows us more flexibility to work with different varieties, and we are open to potential partners who may want us to produce their strains. Some of the things we couldn’t do in the Netherlands will now be possible in Denmark. For instance, we could produce varieties like Bedrolina, among others, under this more flexible system.”
Bedrocan is also planning to launch an outdoor cultivation operation for the first time, with the outdoor biomass primarily targeting the cosmetics industry.
This is again aimed at addressing the growing demand for CBD, partially due to the inclusion of naturally derived cannabidiol in the Cosing (Common cosmetic ingredient ) database that lists all substances authorised in cosmetics.
As CBD used in cosmetics is a ‘very, very processed product, sometimes over 99% purity’, Mr Arora suggests there is ‘value in cultivating outdoors more cheaply’.
However, he is keen to clarify that this is a ‘completely different project’ to the indoor operations, which will focus strictly on the medical market.