ONE of the UK’s fastest growing and largest cannabis companies has launched its first European operation with more to follow over the coming months.
The London-headquartered LYPHE Group operates a number of divisions including the The Medical Cannabis Clinics (TMCC) which caters for over half of the UK’s 8,000-plus patients.
It has now opened a Swiss patient clinic MEDCAN Praxis, based in Zurich, to be run by respected clinician Dr Reto Agosti, who joins LYPHE as Chief Medical Officer, Switzerland.
And, it expects to open more European divisions before the end of 2021 with Germany and Poland both on the radar as it sets its sights on achieving revenues of £14m in this calendar year.
Disrupt Existing Monopoly
LYPHE CEO and Co-founder, Dean Friday, said: “We are looking to lever our knowledge and experience from the huge success of The Medical Cannabis Clinics in the UK into Switzerland.
“Our aim is to help expand the options and accessibility to medical cannabis in Switzerland and disrupt the monopoly arrangement that currently exists.”
The move is well-timed as Switzerland’s currently-restrictive medical cannabis regime – which has precribed to over 10,000 patients but struggles to deal with more than 3,000 patients a year – is about to be opened up.
It is expected that the number of Swiss patients receiving medical cannabis treatment will go up to 100,000 per year by 2023, as reported by BusinessCann last month.
With the Swiss patients being primarily in receipt of magisterial preparations, LYPHE aims to work with local suppliers and international groups to secure supplies of medical cannabis.
As well as the TMCC, LYPHE operates a digital pharmacy service called Dispensary Green.
It will use the expertise gained through operating its divisions to help deliver consistent supplies of medical cannabis to Swiss and other European patients.
We Like ‘Highly-Regulated’ Markets
Mr Friday continued: “We look closely at every single market. With each European market being nuanced you have you have a very buttoned-up, go-to market strategy.
“It’s not a case of blasting into the space, such as the Canadian players did, and then realising their North American model is not fit for purpose in Europe due to the idiosyncrasies of the individual markets.
“In Europe it’s not just the language and culture which vary from country to country, but also the rules, regulations and protocols…we like working in highly regulated markets and the Swiss market is very similar to the one we are operating in the UK.
“We are delighted to begin facilitating patient-care in partnership with Dr Agosti, one of the most highly regarded neurologists in Switzerland.”
Dr Agosti is a prominent headache expert and Neurologist, having spent his career at University Hospital Zurich, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, before founding Switzerland’s leading headache centre, Kopfwehzentrum Hirslanden.
He said: “I am delighted to be joining LYPHE. I was very happy to see their patient focused approach in widening access to medical cannabis.
“LYPHE will be facilitating the market’s growth through patient and doctor education, expanding product availability, alongside specialist clinical care and dispensing services. MEDCAN Praxis is a great concept and will be appreciated by Swiss patients.”
Over the coming months, LYPHE will launch the other elements of its Swiss ecosystem – ensuring patients receive their treatment on time, to their door. Switzerland will be quickly followed by launches into other European medical markets over the coming months.
LYPHE has created the blueprint for capturing medical cannabis markets across Europe, dispensing to more than 60% of all patients in the UK using its clinical care platform and pharmacy services. It also operates on Jersey in the Channel Islands.
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